Dare devil robbers, Thursday evening reportedly invaded Igarra, headquarters of Akoko-Edo local government area of Edo state and attempted to rob the two banks in the town; Unity Bank and keystone Bank and in the process, not less than 12 persons including a policeman were feared killed.
Also among those reportedly killed in the police station were two detainees who were said to have been arrested yesterday morning for minor offences; one of them was reportedly arrested for incomplete vehicle particulars.
As at the time of this report, the Police Public Relations Officer, Chidi Nwabuzor said information about the attack was still sketchy and would release more details later.
COLOSSUS GISTS gathered that the armed men had first attacked the police station which is about 1.2 kilometre from the banks apparently to demobilise the only means of neutralising their act where they burnt the official vehicle of the newly posted Area Commander and killed a policeman.
Three other persons near the police station were also reportedly killed. At least four other persons were reportedly killed within the premises of the two banks apparently in anger as it was gathered that the armed men could not get access to the vault of the banks.
One of the youths in the community Ofei Obende said they tried to resist the robbers but were overpowered by their firepower but said that the police in the banks had an exchange of gunfire which he said was responsible for the death of the three unidentifiable bodies. He said another unknown person was caught in the crossfire and could help police in their investigation.
The Palace Secretary to the paramount ruler of the community, Otaru of Igarra, Elder Folorunsho Dania who confirmed the incident and added that
“This is a serious case, armed robbers have besieged Igarra so many lives killed, ten dead persons have been counted. The police station set ablaze, the Area Commander’s new car set ablaze because we have an area commander now, then close to the police station, three people were killed and in the banks too; Keystone and Unity Banks many persons were killed and the banks raided, it is a calamity.
“In all, ten lives have gone. They could not access the strong room of the banks. The people that were killed in bank were outside the bank premises.
Four persons killed within the bank premises, a policeman killed in the police station then a stone throw from the police station, three persons were killed, the car of the new area commander was set ablaze.
Igarra is in a war scene, I am right at the police station. It would be recalled that six persons were killed in a similar manner in November 2015 when armed robbers invaded the community.
A suspected car snatcher in Rivers State, Uche Ani, from Amuzu in Enugu State has said that hardship forced him into robbing people of their vehicles at gunpoint.
Ani, who was among nine suspected armed robbers and kidnappers arrested by the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad, told newsmen that though he was a member of a non-governmental organization, living became very difficult for him.
Twelve vehicles, all Toyota brands, which were snatched from motorists in Rivers State, were recovered by the police from Ani, who the State Police Command also identified as an ex-convict, and his suspected accomplice, Andrew Atuse.
The suspect confessed that he was able to rob people of their vehicles and sell them immediately through a friend of his, Atuse, identified as a fake soldier; also arrested by FSARS.
Ani, who claimed to be studying Accounting on a part-time basis in one of the tertiary institutions in Port Harcourt, said he started snatching cars over a year ago, adding that the proceeds were used to solve some of his financial problems.
“I went into car robbery because of hardship and the devil pushed me into it. When we snatch the vehicles, we give it to him (pointing at the fake soldier) because he always posed as a soldier.
“We snatched majority of the cars in Port Harcourt. We snatched some of the vehicles at gunpoint while others were taken away where they were parked with master keys.
“The military man (fake soldier) carries the cars. It is the Army man that brought us into this business. Like I said, when we collect the cars, we give it to him (pointing at the fake soldier). I am an undergraduate,” he said.
Also speaking, Andrew Atuse, who claimed that the identification card and the Army cap he used in parading himself as a soldier were given to him by a soldier.
He confirmed that he usually received stolen vehicles from Ani and sold them, adding that he was able to use his fake identity as a soldier to achieve the feat.
“The first car they snatched after I was introduced to them (the gang); I bought the vehicle from them and resold it. One soldier assisted me by doing the Army ID card for me.
“He (soldier) also gave me a military cap. The last time I saw him was over a year ago. I don’t know how they got their guns. I have stolen eight vehicles on my own,” Atuse, who is from Edo State, added.
The state Commissioner of Police, Mr Zaki Ahmed, explained that apart from the stolen vehicles recovered from Ani and Atuse in the Location area of Port Harcourt, the FSARS operatives also recovered one locally-made pistol, two cartridges.
He said,
“Operatives of FSARS on 17th of July, 2018, at about 07.45 hours, acting on credible intelligence, traced two suspected armed robbers to their hideout in Ada-George, Port Harcourt, where they were arrested with military accoutrements.
“The robbers arrested are Andrew Atuse, who is a fake soldier; Uche Ani, an ex-convict. They are helping the Police in investigation and will be in court soonest.”
Newlyweds Chance and Katherine Stockstill are enjoying their new life together. Soon, they'll move into a new home, but it will be without any of their wedding gifts, reports CBS Biloxi affiliate WLOX-TV.
They got married in May and decided to keep the gifts in a storage unit until moving day.
But just weeks after tying the knot, Chance made a shocking discovery.
"I went to a storage unit to put something in it, one day, and the lock was broke. I opened it up, and all of our wedding gifts we put in it was gone," he said.
The entire heist was caught on video. Surveillance cameras at the facility captured a man loading his pickup truck and driving off with what the couple estimates at more than $2,000 in wedding gifts.
The couple posted the video on Facebook. Just a few hours and hundreds of shares later, a stranger reached out to them with the lead they were looking for.
"Phone call said I don't know his name, but I know his address. So, we pretty much had him then," said Stockstill.
An investigator used that information to identify the suspected thief as William Smith, who had already been arrested and was in jail in north Mississippi for identical crimes.
The Stockstills are now breathing a sigh of relief, thankful for the help of social media.
"Social media was everything. If it wasn't for Facebook, we probably wouldn't have caught him," said Katherine.
Investigators have only been able to recover three of the couple's gifts, including a spice rack and knife set that had been opened.
"It was all of our friends and family, they gave us those gifts as a couple. That was our wedding - and our gifts, and now they're gone. I know we'll never get them back, but I just want justice to be served," said Katherine.
The couple said they advise anyone else using a storage unit to check it frequently, make sure the facility has a surveillance system and ensure their items.
Smith was booked into the Hancock County Jail last week on charges of burglary and trespassing.
An operative of the Nigerian Navy, Usman Shaibu, has been arrested by the police in Delta State for allegedly stealing multi-billion naira properties belonging to a former Niger Delta militant leader, Chief Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo.
Shaibu was arrested alongside two other suspects identified as Okugbe Lucky and Chime Chukwuka while allegedly moving some properties from Tompolo’s jetty near the Chevron Clinic in Edjeba community in the Warri South Local Government Area of the state.
The three suspects were arrested on Sunday by a police team led by the Divisional Police Officer in-charge of ‘A’ Division Warri, Mr Kelvin Zuokumor, following a tip-off from members of the public over alleged illegal movement of items from the yard.
Sources told COLOSSUS GISTS that the stealing from the yard had been on until Sunday evening when the suspects were caught.
One of the sources disclosed that Tompolo had earlier written to the Presidency over the development but no action had been taken.
Tompolo, in his open letter to President Buhari on July 22, 2016, lamented the sale of his properties by security agencies meant to guard the property pending the end of a legal battle with the Federal Government.
The state Commissioner of Police, Muhammad Mustafa, confirmed the arrest of the naval personnel and two others over the theft of the property to The PUNCH on the telephone.
“He (Shaibu) took a payloader to the premises to steal the property. He has confessed to the crime. He was the one that organized everything which he also admitted. He is currently in police custody. He was found with the vehicle and everything. It is a complete crime”, CP Mustafa added.
The suspect, from Abeokuta, Ogun State, who is a member of Eiye Confraternity, said her role was to keep arms for the cult group’s members whenever they are going for an operation.
Abiola said she was introduced to the gang by one Sadiq, a leader of their group, who usually brought the pictures of the victims they were to eliminate.
Abiola said,
“I was initiated to Eiye Confraternity through a brother called Sadiq. I met him at Ilasamaja immediately I came to Lagos. I was looking for job when I met him and he told me to join the group where I will be making a living without stress.”
According to her, Sadiq was a leader of Eiye Confraternity in llasamaja area who trained her on how to use guns to kill people.
She further revealed that they normally disguised themselves while going for operations, with women wearing hijabs and men dressing in ‘jalabias’ form to avoid suspicion.
She added that she was paid N10,000 while the men got N20,000 each after every operation.
According to CP Edgal, Abiola confessed to having personally killed four people and that she was under oath.
He said that on July 13, based on a credible source that rival cult groups were fighting in Alafia area of Mushin, detectives from Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) swiftly mobilized to the scene and arrested one Sadiq Oyewunmi and Ihioma Emeka.
“They were subsequently searched during which two live cartridges and two locally made revolver pistols with ammunition were recovered from them.
“During an investigation, the suspects confessed to being members of a secret cult group known as Eiye Confraternity. Oyewunmi actually confessed that during their cult activities, his brother, named Waheed Oyewunmi, was shot dead by the rival cult group led by Emeka Ihioma whom, he alleged, pulled the trigger of the gun that killed his brother.”
The Police in Zamfara has confirmed the killing of a staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in Gusau, Kabiru Zango by unknown gunmen.
The police command Public Relations Officer, Muhammad Shehu, said, in a statement made available to journalists that Zango was shot at his residence in Gusau this Friday.
He added that the assailants entered the deceased residence at about 3.30am and shot him with a gun through his bedroom window.
Shehu said that the incident was immediately reported through a distress call to the Gusau Central Police Station, where the divisional police officer immediately mobilized detectives to the location, but before the police arrived, the two assailants had fled.
The command spokesman added that the deceased was rushed to the hospital by the police where he was confirmed dead.
Shehu assured that the police has commenced an investigation with a view to unravel the circumstances behind the killing.
NAN
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