THE Police in Ondo state on Wednesday arrested six notorious armed robbery suspects, including two suspects, Moruf Oguntade and Adetayo Ogunbadejo, who claimed to be private officers of the Nigerian Army.
Speaking on the arrest, the state commissioner of Police, Gbenga Adeyanju, disclosed that the armed robbery suspects were arrested along Akure /Owo expressway in Ogudu Camp along Emure town.
The police boss explained that the hoodlums blocked the road leading to the expressway around Emure town in order to rob vehicles or kidnap people during the operation.
He said men of the state police command received the information about the activities of the robbers and swung into action, leading to the arrest of one the robbers, Jacob Amos, who confessed to the crime and led the police to their hideout.
According to him, five other members of the group were arrested in Shagari village in Akure, Ondo state capital, but said three other members of the gang ran away.
The armed robbers included, Amos Jacob, Moses Aleka, Iliyasu Suleiman and Jayeola Ojo and the two army officers which Nigerian Tribune learnt are serving in Kaduna state.
Adeyanju stated that all the arrested suspects confessed to the crime and explained the part they took during the robbery operation.
Speaking to journalists, illiyasu Suleiman who claimed to be a computer repairer said he was invited from Kogi state and lured to the robbery operation by his friends who claimed to be Internet fraudster popularly known as “Yahoo boys”.
Suleiman, 37 years old, said the need to raise money for his mother burial led him into the robbery saying ” I joined the gang to raise enough money for my mother’s burial.
He said “When I came, he told me it was Yahoo. It was when I got to him that it became a different thing, I told them I cannot go out like this, and they said there is no problem. It was when we went out that I know it was a real problem. The village people shouted at us and we ran. I was later arrested by the Police.
“I am a repairer of the laptop, he told me to come and that he will teach me how to make faster money with Yahoo. When I came, I asked him, where is the laptop? He said I should not worry. On the eight days, he said we should stroll out, he gave me a knife, he gave the other guy cutlass and he handled the pistol.
“I am appealing to the police to sympathize with me because of my late mother, I don’t care what they want to do to me I want to witness her burial.”
The Police Commissioner listed some of the items recovered from the suspects to include, Army uniform, one Beretta pistol, cutlasses, knives, charms, one Hummer Jeep and three booklets of Army pass used by the officers.
He, however, said detectives from the command have been on the trail of three members of the gang with a pledge to bring them to book soon.