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From Molly Kilete, Abuja
It was the end of the road for a two-man “one chance” robbery gang when police operatives acting on intelligence swooped in on them while carrying out their notorious activities.
The suspects who had been in the business of operating a fake transport service at various bus stops in Abuja, picked up innocent passengers and ended up
robbing them of their valuables at gun point.
The suspects also used car tyre lock which they put around the neck of their victims, pulled it to strangulate them. They also used scissors, pliers and screwdrivers to stab and inflict injuries on their victims and pushed them out of their moving vehicles not caring whether or not they got crushed by oncoming vehicles and moved on with life.
When they are done, they take all their stolen loots comprising laptops, mobile phones, jewelries among other valuables to a buyer, who receives the stolen items.
The two suspects, all residents of Mararaba, in Nassarawa State, met their end after police operatives from the Violent Crime Response Unit (VCRU), Team III, arrested them on September, 20, around Court of Appeal Junction, along Goodluck Jonathan Expressway while on routine patrol.
They were arrested alongside their operational vehicle, a Toyota Camry, 2000 model, ash in color, with registration number ABJ RSH 606 SG, and taken to the station.
A search conducted on the vehicle led to the recovery of nine android phones, pliers, wheel lock and other exhibits.
FCT Commissioner of Police, Sanusi, said the suspects were responsible for several “one chance” robbery incidents within the city center and that on the night of their arrest, the suspects were waiting for an accomplice before setting out to pick up unsuspecting members of the public:
“The prime suspect, Okwudili, “Benjamin” was arrested by the police for the same offence in 2023, charged to court and sentenced to prison where he served his jail term and went back to the crime after he was released from prison.”
Okwudili told Daily Sun how he went into “one chance” robbery, how they operated and sold stolen goods to one Benard, NPC Junction, Nyanya, who gives them cash in return.
Okwudili, who claims to be married with four children and a pregnant wife, said he regrets his action and pleads for mercy.
The suspect, who said he has been in Abuja, for more than ten years, said
“I went into “one chance” robbery about seven years ago because things were not working for me the way I wanted.”
How we operate
I have a vehicle, we use my car to operate. We usually go to very busy places like banks, bus stops, Federal Secretariat, AYA, Berger Junction, Appeal Court Junction, Wuse 2, Area One, UTC and other areas we consider lucrative.
When we get there, we pack and call passengers. One of us will be the driver while the other person will sit in the car as passenger.
When we get passengers, we will then drive off and take them to expressway and force them to release their bags, ATM cards, phones, wristwatches, jewelries, laptops and anything we see on them.
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This we do at gunpoint and if they refuse because some passengers are very stubborn, if we get such persons, we will use the tyre lock and put it around their necks and pull and strangulate them.
Apart from strangulating them with the tyre lock, we also use screwdrivers or scissors to stab them to show them that we are serious and they will release whatever they are holding unto.
When we are done robbing them, we will then push them out of the car and go to another place to pick another passenger.
Whenever we are going for operations, we usually carry some of these dangerous items. So while on motion, one if us will hold the victim’s hand to the back, while the other person will put the tyre lock on his or her neck and pull it very hard and you see the person start gasping for breath and begging forward life.
On one occassion, we picked a pregnant woman who proved stubborn and when we used the lock around her neck she lost the pregnancy and started bleeding in the vehicle.
Also, on several occasions, we use screwdriver to stab passengers on their thighs, hands and legs when they refuse to cooperate with us.
How we sell stolen items
How to sell stolen items or anything at all is not difficult. All we do is go to all these big markets including scrap markets and there you will see somebody with cash to pay for them even though they buy at very cheap rate.
For example, they can pay N100,000 for iPhone 14 Pro Max, N50,000, for laptop and things like that. It is not usually much, but it provides food for my family and pay school fees of my children and house rent because I am living in a rented apartment.
Gains from ‘one chance’
I will not say I have made good money because if I had made that kind of money I would have quitted long time. But like I told you they price the things we take to them anyhow because they know that we are criminals.
But that not withstanding, I was able to buy a car, put my children in private school. I also bought a parcel of land and planned to start building my own house before I was arrested.
How do you feel now?
I feel very bad now that the police have arrested me. I am begging them to please forgive me I will not go into crime again if they let me go. I am begging because I have four children to cater for and my wife is pregnant.
It is the devil that pushed me into it. I don’t know how my wife and children will feel if they find out that their father is a criminal and their friends will start abuse them.
Advice to colleague criminals
My advice to my fellow criminals is that they should be careful how they operate or desist from robbery because the police this time around is not like the police of before. These men are out there day and night looking for criminals to arrest and that was how they arrested me.
Since my arrest, I have been cooperating with them and told them a lot of things about our operations because I will not go back to crime again if I get out of this one.
The reason I am doing that is because the people who are receiving and buying these stolen items from us are the ones encouraging us not to stop robbery.
