Six ‘one chance’ robbers nabbed in Kwara
Six men suspected to specialise in
robbing passengers in commercial vehicles in Ilorin, the Kwara State
capital, have been apprehended by the Kwara State Police Command.
Our correspondent learnt that the suspects normally use two cabs for their operations but were arrested last week Sunday.
The police identified the suspects as
Taye Babatunde, Adisa Ismaila, Toyin Folorunsho, Dare Alawo, Suleiman
Shehu and Raheem Kareem. The Public Relations Officer, Kwara State
Command, Mr. Ajayi Okasanmi, said they were arrested by a police patrol
team.
According to him, the suspects were
trying to dispossess a victim, Aisha Raji, of her belongings at the
General Hospital roundabout when the police intercepted and apprehended
them.
Okasanmi
stated that the police had commenced an investigation into their
activities and making
attempts to track down their accomplices.
He added that the suspects would be prosecuted after the completion of investigation.
Raji told journalists that she boarded
the vehicle when the driver said they were heading to Tanke area of
Ilorin. She added that she never knew that the occupants were robbers.
She said there were four men including the driver in the cab with two
sitting at the back and one supposed passenger beside the driver in the
front.
She said other people who turned out to be accomplices boarded the vehicles at different spots.
According to her, it was when they were
close to the hospital roundabout that they ordered her to release all
her belongings to them. She said she hesitated because she had N78,750
in her bag. She added that the suspects pounced on her and were
struggling to dispossess her of the money, her bag and other belongings
when a police patrol van was passing by.
She stated that she started shouting which attracted the policemen who now caught up with them and arrested them.
Suspects
Raji said, “While we were struggling, the
police patrol van came and I shouted; so the policemen overtook us and
blocked the vehicle with their patrol van. I thank God that there was
slight traffic congestion that day. The policemen immediately arrested
the suspects.”
Meanwhile, Okasanmi said that the command
had also arrested some criminals suspected to be involved in the
manufacturing of fake number plates.
Okasanmi said that the culprits had been manufacturing Lagos number plates when they were discovered.
“We first discovered that stealing of
vehicles with Lagos registration numbers had been on the high side in
the state. It was in the course of our investigation that we discovered
the fake number plates,”he said.
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