Do you
accept sachet or bottle water offered by unknown passengers in a
commercial bus? Then, you must be careful as some robbery gang have devised
this method to rob unsuspecting passengers.
This discovery is coming on the heels of
the arrest of five members of a notorious robbery gang by
operatives of the Special Anti-robbery Squad, SARS, of the Lagos State Police
Command. The gang specialized in drugging unsuspecting passengers in commercial
buses before dispossessing them of their valuables,
Unlike their other partners who use
their vehicles to perpetrate the heinous crime, the arrested suspects as
gathered, would board commercial buses and position themselves
strategically to actualize their devilish act.
Their modus oparandi include trailing their
targets either from the bank, or public places, right into a commercial bus.
Information at Crime Guard disposal revealed that seven members
of the gang would board same bus with their target while another would
pose as a sachet water hawker. Unknown to their target the sachet water have
all been sedated. One of them would then pretend to buy a sachet water
from their gang(hawker), offering N20 note, only to be told there is no
N10 note for his balance. Pretending to be nice, the buyer would take another
sachet water and offer to their target, with the explanation that he did not
want his money to be left with the hawker. And immediately their target
drinks the water, he would fall asleep and in the process, have his valuables
dispossessed of.
But the gang met its waterloo after a
foiled attempt to sedate one of its victims in Ikeja area of the state
recently. Consequently, three members of the gang were apprehended.
A Police source at SARS said “We have been
on their trail for two weeks now. We got information that the same gang had
robbed someone on his way from Ikeja to Yaba and the case was reported at Sabo
police station. Driver of that bus and his conductor were initially
accused of conniving with the robbers but after proper investigation, they were
released with stern instructions to be on the look-out for members of the gang.
Unfortunately for the gang, they
boarded the same bus last week Tuesday and the bus conductor who was
vigilant noticed them and raised alarm. They were about seven but
three of them were arrested while four others escaped. But during
interrogation those arrested provided information that aided the arrest of two
others. We are currently making effort to apprehend the gang leader who
is currently at large”. He explained.
I
joined the gang because I was not making money from my phone business-suspect
One of the suspects,
24-year-old Chibuike Mbakwe, a native of Orlu, Imo state, said he joined
the gang because he wasn’t making enough money from his phone business.
Hear him: “I came toLagosin 2003
after completing secondary school . I went into phone
accessories trade at Alaba International market where I met Chioma, the
gang’s leader. He introduced me into this crime and in the
process I abandoned my trade.
I don’t know how Chioma picks his targets
but he always had one. On the day of our arrest, the man Chioma had targeted
was carrying a paper bag with him which we concluded contained money. We
were six in number including the pure water seller . So far,
I have gone on operation with Chioma five times”.
We
dissolve 15 talin (sedative)into a sachet water
Asked
what was the name of the sedative drug, he said, “ it is called talin. Fifteen
tablets are dissolved in one sachet. This will make our target
sleep for three hours. I have no idea how the drug is procured or where it is
packaged into the water. But the water is usually brought to the park for
the gang member to sell by Chioma.
My role is simply to get into the same bus
and cover up Chioma’s activities, so no one would suspect us”
Asked whether any of their victims had died
in the process, he shook his head: “ No, the drug is not harmful. I have
mistakenly taken a drugged sachet water and had to be taken home by
my colleagues. I woke up after 3 hours”
For 24-year-old Ifeanyi Okeke,
a native of Anambra State who plays the role of the hawker, he has this
to say: “ I came to Lagos in 2007 to work as a houseboy for my
brother but went back to the village shortly after his shop was
demolished at Oshodi by the the Lagos state Task force.
I returned toLagosin 2011 and went
into smuggling of rice and other food items between Seme border and
Iyana- Iba. I met the gang about a month ago when they attempted to rob a
victim in a bus I was working as a conductor. When I attempted to
raise alarm, the gang leader Chioma, signaled to me to keep quiet
and gave me his phone number, promising to compensate me. I did and he
gave me N500. We later met at a designated place where he talked me into
joining his gang and assigned me to be hawking for the gang.
Before boarding any bus, Chioma would call
me to meet him somewhere and would give me the bag of the already drugged
sachet water to sell. All I have received since I joined them
is just two visa phones and N8000.
I regret joining the gang because
Chioma has been cheating me since I joined. More painful, is the fact that the
money I realised from the business is poor compared to what I was
getting as a bus conductor.” He lamented.
I
operated between Cotonou and Togo – Eze
However, 35 -year- old, Chidi
Eze, a native of Ihiala, Anambra state and also a trader at Alaba
International market, confessed to have resigned from the crime long ago.
But his brother, Tochukwu who apparently took over, implecated him during
investigation.”I was formerly into this bussiness but stopped after I was
arrested, charged to court and served a jail term at Kirikiri prison.
One Goddy who resides in Cotonou introduced me into it..
Then, we operated from CotonoutoTogo, using Indian powder. For my
participation, I was paid 7000 Cepha which is equivalent to
N2000. After that, we operated at Okokomaiko , CMS and Mile 2
routes. We were arrested at Abeokuta last year after Goddy and I
tried to rob a passenger”