While the fake soldier identified himself as Patrick Okoh
from Isele Ukwu, Delta State, his fake navy counterpart gave his name as
Aniekan Emmanuel from Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
The other members of the robbery gang are Alex Ugbuagu,
Evans Boniface, and Izuchukwu Udeagwu.
They were said to be heading for a buyer’s place in the town
when they were arrested by the police.
According to the police, the syndicate, which specialised in
robbing trucks, had participated in five operations in different parts of the
state.
While the first involved the robbing of a truck carrying
33,000 litres of petrol along Anthony Village at gunpoint, the second was a
truck along the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway. It was gathered that the petrol truck
that the robbers seized at Anthony Village was sold for N1.5m to a filling
station in Ikorodu, Lagos.
After their arrest, the operational vehicle of the robbers,
and the uniforms used by the fake military officials were recovered from the
gang.
The fake soldier, 48-year-old Okoh, said he had taken out
the gang on two robbery occasions.
He said, “I was working as a clearing agent in Apapa, Lagos.
Around March this year, I met one Alex who was a driver with a logistics
company and who had a Hilux van. Then, we planned on how we could use his van,
and a military uniform to rob. I learnt he had gone on three occasions
previously, but I didn’t participate in those ones.
“When I met Alex, I also invited Emmanuel, who I knew had a
navy uniform. During operation, we would stand on the expressway in the night
and flagged down any truck we intended to rob. The truck drivers submitted to
us, thinking we were security operatives. That was how we diverted their
trucks.”
The fake navy rating, 32-year-old Aniekan from Uyo, Akwa
Ibom State, said he used the navy uniform for robbery as a result of poverty.
He said, “I finished from the Navy Merchant School. I also
attended the School of Oceanography, Victoria Island, but I did not get a job
with the Federal Government. When there was no job, I started private security
jobs.
“It was Okoh who invited me. I knew him as a resident in my
area in Meiran, Lagos. He simply told me there was a business I could make
money from. That was how we started. Whenever any truck came, my own work was
to flag them down. I would harass the drivers with questions like, ‘Why are you
driving like that? Is that how to move?’ Then from there, we diverted their
trucks and robbed them.”
Our correspondent learnt that the gang was arrested after a
tip-off.
It was gathered that the former commissioner of Police, Umar
Manko, directed the Commander, Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SP Abba Kyari, to go
after the suspected robbers
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