The Ogun State Police Command has arrested a bus conductor, one Chineye Okoro, for allegedly abducting three factory workers in the Sango area of the state. The factory workers were said to be returning from their workplace when the Anambra-born suspect, Okoro, who had a gun, and his gang members, waylaid them in the Ntabo, Ogba Ayo area. The 26-year-old suspect and his gang members who are now at large, were said to have led the workers to an uncompleted building and dispossessed them of their valuables.
According to one of the victims, Ibrahim Oladeji, he summoned guts and challenged Okoro after the two other victims (ladies) managed to escape.
He said, “He (Okoro) and his gang members stopped us around Ogba Ayo while we were returning from Sango. He pointed a gun at us and we were forced into an uncompleted building. They ordered us to lie down and collected our phones and wallets. I had about N15, 000 in my wallet. He gave the items to one of his gang members and told him to run away.
“One of the two ladies among us managed to escape. I told the other lady, Moji, to also run. I summoned courage and challenged him. I punched him in the face and he hit me with the gun. He then fled and I chased him into a corner where a man, who heard me shouting ‘thief, thief’ apprehended him. The police later came to arrest him,” the 24-year-old victim added.
It was gathered that before Moji, 18, escaped, her wallet containing a sum of N1,500 and a mobile phone were collected from her.
Meanwhile, Okoro who claimed to be a visitor to the area and was getting fresh air when a mob descended on him was arrested alongside his roommate, 16-year-old Kalu, by the Anti-Robbery Squad of the Agbado Police Division who later arrived at the area.
He, however, later confessed to have used the gun in self-defence when he heard people shouting ‘thief’, The Punch reports.
He said, “I was sitting outside when I saw people rushing towards my direction and calling me a thief. I picked the gun and shot it to disperse the crowd. But I was eventually arrested and beaten up. I did not rob anybody.
“I inherited the gun from a friend six years ago after he was killed. We were both Aiye Confraternity members. I denounced the group after his death,” Okoro added.
The other suspect, Kalu, an Imo State indigene, however, said he was not involved in the robbery and was not even in the know of such.
He said, “Okoro, his brother and I live in a room. He went outside with a bag after we had finished cooking that evening. I don’t know whether there was a gun inside the bag or not.
“The following day after his brother had left for work; some policemen came and arrested me. Please, I don’t know anything about the robbery,” Kalu pleaded.
DSP Muyiwa Adejobi, the Ogun State Police spokesperson, confirmed the incident saying the suspects would be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID.
“We received a distress call that armed robbers were operating in the Ntabo area, Ijoko.
“Consequently, Anti-Robbery patrol team from the Agbado division responded and condoned off the area after which two suspected robbers were arrested while others fled.
“The police has launched a manhunt for the fleeing members of the gang,” Adejobi noted.
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