Poverty pushed me into armed robbery – Suspect

A member of a three-man armed robbery gang whose operations had been a thorn in the lives of residents and motorists around Mile 2 and Apapa areas of Lagos, has blamed his involvement in robbery on poverty. He also attributed the success of his gang’s operations to ‘okada’ which helped members of the gang to […]

A member of a three-man armed robbery gang whose operations had been a thorn in the lives of residents and motorists around Mile 2 and Apapa areas of Lagos, has blamed his involvement in robbery on poverty. He also attributed the success of his gang’s operations to ‘okada’ which helped members of the gang to quickly escape from scenes of robbery operations.
The suspect, Ese Ebrorhie was arrested a few days ago by operatives of the Lagos State Police Rapid Response Squad (RRS), who foiled an attempt by members of the gang to unleash mayhem on law abiding residents of the state. Two members of the gang escaped with a locally-made double barrel gun and a pistol, while Ebrorhie was nabbed by the policemen.
In his confessional statement, the suspect said that he joined the robbery syndicate to source for livelihood. “I bought a fairly used motorcycle popularly known as ‘okada’ which developed small problem and there was nobody to help me. So, I joined the gang to raise funds to repair the ‘okada’.
“We operated at dawn, between 5:00a.m. and 6:00a.m. and at night from 9:00p.m. We rob only commercial buses by pretending to be passengers at bus stops in the Mile 2 and Apapa areas. Once inside the bus, the gang leader, Zubby, who holds one of our guns, will hold the bus driver hostage while we would begin to rob and dispossess every passenger of their belongings. After the operation, we would disembark and mount our waiting bike, moving beside the bus to escape.
“I have gone on three operations with the gang. From the first operation, I was given N8,000. The second one, I was given N15,000. It was during my third operation with the gang that I was arrested. Zubby is the one that collects and sells all the belongings we collect during operations. He is the one who share the loot to everyone.”
Ebrorhie, who claimed to live in Takwa Bay, Snake Island, added that before every robbery operation, the gang normally converged at Berger.
“Most of our victims used to mistake us for passengers. When I asked Zubby where he got the guns, he told me that he bought them. Zubby is an Igbo man while the other gang member, Emmanuel, is from Calabar,” he said.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Joe Offor, confirmed the arrest. He said that investigation was ongoing, while the suspect would be charged to court at the conclusion of investigation.