A three-man car snatching gang has been smashed by the
operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) Lagos State Police Command.
The suspects are Amuche Chukwuemeka (aged 23), Blessing Idotie 26, and
Enwelikwu Santos Peter 25.
According to police authorities, the suspected car snatchers
operated on February 4, 2015 at 1st Avenue Festac, in the De Heaven Night Club
premises at about 9.28pm.
Police further revealed that a man named Mr. Anthony Okeke,
who became their victim, was said to have parked his Toyota Highlander SUV with
Registration No. AKD 91 AN and went to urinate. “As he went to urinate, the
three suspects sighted him and waited for him to come back to his vehicle. As
he made to enter his vehicle one of the suspects, Amuche blocked him and
pointed a gun at him, ordering him to cooperate if he did not want to be
killed.
The two others entered with the man. The man sat between
Blessing Idotie and Santos Peter while Chukwuemeka took over the steering and
headed to Second Rainbow Festac Town and gave the man N1000 for transport after
collecting all the money on him before pushing him out of the car.
“They also collected two ATM cards, demanded for the pins,
which he gave them. They then proceeded to Onitsha, but along Ijebu-Ode, Ogun
State, the vehicle developed fault.
They decided to use the ATM cards to make withdrawal at FCMB
branch the following day where they withdrew N200,000. “After repairing the
Jeep, they continued their journey to the East but still within Ijebu-Ode area.
Unfortunately for them, they were stopped by Army officers on black spots.
It was there that they were subjected to routine road search
and one locally made pistol was found on them. To compound their problem a
relation of the car they snatched had earlier received a phone call about the
snatched car hence when he sighted the Jeep being searched by the soldiers as
he himself was travelling to the east he stopped and went to tell the soldiers
about his brother’s snatched Jeep which is exactly the Jeep they were searching
when the suspects could not give satisfactory account of the Jeep and the
report of the owner’s brother on snatched Jeep.
“We arrested the three suspects and took them to Ijebu Ode
police station and later transferred them to Eleweran Police Headquarters
Abeokuta, Ogun State. “It was from there the suspects were transferred to the
area the offence was committed hence Festac Police station Lagos from where
they were transferred to SARS for discreet investigation.
“However, one of the suspects fainted when he was brought
before the officer in charge of SARS, a superintendent of police, SP Abba Kyari
having been promised that he would not be taken to SARS in Lagos. Confessing
the first suspect, Amuche Chukwuemeka said, “I am from Umuguma in Owerri West
local government area, Imo State.
I am a student in Federal Polytechnic Nekede Owerri, Imo
state doing Electrical/Electronics Engineering HNDI. My mother is in Lagos
while father in Abuja. It is 15years now my parents divorced and we are two
boys and one girl. I live in Festac with my mother at 1st Avenue H Close and
she is a teacher. I am the gang leader.
“Three of us sat down at Premier Hotel Maza Maza and decided
to snatch a car. I provided the gun and I bought it from a cultist named
Cigairo and I told him that if he gives me a gun I will join his cult
Bukanneers.
