Suspected robber videos colleagues during operation

The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a 23-year-old robber, Prince Nwafor, with a visual recording of a robbery operation that he took part in.

According to police authorities, the suspect is part of a robbery gang that specialises in snatching vehicles in Lagos and selling them at low prices.

The gang was also alleged to have robbed in Ebonyi and Anambra states.

The recording, which was captured with a camera phone, showed how Nwafor’s gang members robbed a motorist of his car in an undisclosed location. He, however, did not appear in the recording.

The police said it was believed that Nwafor intended to release the incriminating video on the Internet for allegedly cheating him every time they went for operation.

Nwafor, however, told PUNCH Metro that he made the recordings so he could blackmail his colleagues with it.

He said his colleagues usually cheated him when sharing their loot and the recording was meant to be used as

a leverage to force them to share the robbery loot equally.

He said, “I was a commercial motorcycle rider but when the Lagos State Government began to restrict our operation, I abandoned the job and started working as a labourer at construction sites in Lagos. However, the money was too little.

“When I travelled to my village in Ebonyi State, I met Kingsley Chibuzor, who told me that he came to the state to snatch some cars and asked me to join him. Since I needed money, I joined his gang. However, they were always cheating me when they were sharing the money.

“In the first robbery operation I did with them, we stole two cars and sold them at N800, 000. We were three, which means I should have received at least N250, 000. Unfortunately, I was given only N100, 000.

“During the second operation in Abakaliki, they cheated me again. So the third time, I used my camera phone to record the entire operation. I kept it to be used as leverage so that if they cheated me again, I can use it to blackmail them.”

The suspect said things, however, did not work as he planned because after another operation, he was not contacted by the gang members.

He said after a lot of efforts on his part, he located them and discovered that another member of the gang, Enebeli Ozoemena, held his (Nwafor)N200, 000 share.

He said, “We had a big quarrel and everybody went their separate ways until we were arrested by operatives of the Special Anti Robbery Squad.”

When asked what he did with the money he made from his robberies, the suspect said, “I went to Ebonyi State, where I had my wedding. Weddings are expensive. Soon after, my wife gave birth to a son and we were happy, but when I left the gang, I became so broke that I had to sell some of my things in order to feed.

“My parents, my wife and child had been killed during a communal clash between Amedo village in Ebonyi and Adama Village in Cross River.”

PUNCH Metro had reported last week Wednesday that a prison escapee, Chibuzor, who is the alleged gang leader, and Enebeli, were arrested by the police.

Our correspondent learnt that through Chibuzor’s confessions, Nwafor was arrested.

SARS operatives, who made the arrests, found the visual recordings of the robbery operation on Nwafor’s mobile phone.

Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, who confirmed the arrest to our correspondent on the telephone, said some of the stolen vehicles had been recovered, adding that efforts were on to recover the remaining ones stolen by the gang.