attacking customers while they are withdrawing money from banks in
Lagos and Ogun states are currently cooling their heels at the Ogun
State Criminal Investigation Departments , Elewee-Eran.The suspects,
Lukmon Bello and Jide Abbass, met their waterloo, penultimate Monday,
after a foiled attempt to snatch a bag containing an unspecified
amount from a car parked in front of a business centre in Oke-Ilewo
area of the state.
They reportedly trailed the owner of the car who had gone to withdraw
some money from the Ibara branch of Sterling Bank, Abeokuta to the
business centre. But unknown to them the customer is a Divisional
Crime Officer, DCO, attached to one of the divisions in Abeokuta.
Vanguard Metro, VM, gathered that while the unsuspecting policeman
was inside the business centre, the suspects who came in their
operational Mercedes Benz 190 car, reportedly parked beside his car.
Eye witnesses said they opened the car with a master key and collected
an envelop where the withdrawn money was kept. But they got the shock
of their lives when the policeman who was just coming out of the
business centre sighted them and fired a shot at one of them.
Why I joined robbery
In his words: "I was initially into international trade. I usually
travelled to Dubai to buy men's clothes to sell until the trade
crumbled. I had also travelled to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, twice, to
perform Holy Pilgrimage. While the going was good, I got married to
two wives. But along the line, my business crumbled and I started
driving commercial bus. At a point, I could barely feed my family. In
the process, I met Jide Abass, who introduced me to robbery.Tracing
the genesis of his misadventure, 46-year-old Lukmon, an indigene of
Ibadan, Oyo State, informed that he was a commercial bus driver and
shuttled between Mile 12, Ketu and Oshodi road, Lagos. He claimed he
took to robbery due to his inability to fend for his two wives and
six children.
How I was arrested
"On that fateful day, we left Ikorodu where we live, to Abeouta to
operate. It was Jide who suggested we went far to operate to avoid
being recognised during operation. We trailed this particular man to
Oke-Ilewo. We saw him counting some money and kept some in the safe
of his car. We did not know he would not stay long inside the office
he entered. We were busy ransacking his vehicle for the money he left
and never noticed him coming out until he was close. As we attempted
to enter our car and flee he pulled out a pistol and shot me in the
thigh.
"I managed to hop into my Mercedez benz car which was used for the
operation and sped off towards Ibara Housing en-route Kuto
(Abeokuta)/Isiun Expressway. But I became unconscious as a result of
loss of blood and in the process ran into an oncoming vehicle on
reaching the Ogun State NUT Conference Hall junction, close to MKO
Abiola Stadium, Abeokuta.
"Some good Samaritans who did not know what actually happened came to
our rescue and rushed us to the Federal Medical Centre,FMC, Idi-Aba,
Abeokuta, for treatment. But to our surprise, the man who shot me
located us and arrested us. It was after we were arrested that we
discovered that he was a policeman. My wives and children are not
aware I have been arrested. Greed lured me into this".
Introduction of cashless policy is affecting us- Abass
"We usually laid ambush for bank customers, especially those who had
gone to withdraw money. It is not difficult to notice them. For the
men, it is either their pockets would be bulging or they would come
out with the usual black nylon. For customers who came in their
vehicles, we would either ambush them or trail them to safer places
where we would collect the withdrawn amount. But since the
introduction of cashless policy, people don't usually got out with
cash. Even when they go to eateries or super markets, they make use
of POS and this has been affecting our operations.Lukmon's partner in
crime, Jide Abass, 45, who hails from Ilesha, Osun State, stated that
robbery was easier for them until the introduction of the cashless
policy in the country.
"We started operating in Ikorodu, Lagos State but since the police
seem to have braced up to the challenge, we decided to relocate to
Ogun State. This is our fourth operation here. I am ashamed of myself
because my two wives may likely divorce me if they find out their
husband is a robber," he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment