Sam Amuka’s security men opened gate for us —Suspected Chadian robbers

THREE nationals of Republic of Chad who were arrested for the robbery attack on the home of the publisher of Vanguard Newspapers, Sam Amuka, have accused security men in the building of complicity.

The arrested  robbers and one other person still at large, had, on June 5, raided the Anthony home of the newspaper publisher, where valuables were carted away.

The arrested suspects were identified as Atim Abubakar, Mohammed Musa and Razaq Hassan (driver) and they were arrested at different locations in Lagos, on Wednesday.

One of the arrested suspects, Abubakar, insisted  that two security men attached to the publisher’s home were part of the plan to rob the building.

The suspect also said he was contacted by Muhammed who, according to him, had only said they were going to pick cash somewhere in Anthony area.

The suspect narrated that “during our interaction, Mohammed told me that it was one Gambo who has the contact of the house we are going to rob.”

He added that “Mohammed said Gambo had assured him that they are not going to encounter any problem during the operation, since the security men attached to the house were in the know of the attack. On the day of the operation, we stormed the house around 3.00 a.m.

“On arrival, we met the gate to the house open. The security men were already expecting us. We had no difficulty accessing the place.”

Atim also claimed that “the two security men on duty advised us to tie them down. They also said we should not tie them too hard. Based on their instruction, we tied them and left them inside the gate house.”

He further confessed that  “we entered the main house through the ceiling. We met only the owner of the house at home sleeping in one of the rooms upstairs. I stayed downstairs while Hassan and Musa went upstairs. As I ransacked the cabinet in the siting room, I saw two pieces of foreign currency on the floor.

“At the end of the operation, I got N100,000 as my own share of the stolen money and a wristwatch”  the suspect claimed.

The state Police Commissioner, Fatai  Owoseni, while speaking with newsmen on the arrest of the suspects, said the police in the state were on the trail of the fourth member of the gang.

“Based on the account Chief Sam Amuka gave us, three persons out of the four suspects that robbed the Vanguard Publisher have been arrested. From their confessional statement,  it is certain that the three suspects actually participated in the robbery,” he said.

“A Mitsubishi salon car used by the robbers, one sledge hammer and one iron cutter were recovered from the suspects. The three arrested suspects are Chadians who are members of a notorious cross-border armed bandit.

“Investigation is presently ongoing. At the end of the investigation, we believe that we will get to the root of the matter, since it was not the first attack on Chief Sam Amuka,” Owoseni added.