Man organizes friends from Delta state to rob his uncle in Lagos state

24-year-old Emmanuel Erherhie, a member of a 6-man robbery gang that was recently apprehended by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, Ikeja in Lagos has confessed to arranging with his friends to carry out a robbery attack on his own uncle who lives in Festac Town, Lagos.

Emmanuel, who was paraded alongside his other gang members, Joseph Ovologbarho, Innocent Ibe, Victor Ezenwa, Oyoma Akbojiyouwi and James Ukerume, said he arranged for his Uncle to be robbed at his festac home after his uncle kicked him out of his house when he returned from Prison for damaging someone's car. Emmanuel explains

“I brought three of my friends from Delta State to rob my uncle in Lagos. But the robbery operation failed as we were arrested. I lived with him for about four months. He drove me out of his house after I had an accident with his car and the vehicle got damaged beyond repair. I hit another car which was also badly damaged so, the owner of the car I hit arrested me that night. When I called my uncle, he said he had no hand in that. Nobody came to bail me. The case was charged to court and eventually I was sent to prison for six months. But for the help of my elder brother, Godwin Erherhie who assisted to secure my release, I would still be in prison. When I eventually got released from Kirikiri prison, I came back to my brother’s house; he chased me out, saying that I was no longer welcomed in his house,and he didn’t even allow me to pick my belongings. I was wasting away, jobless and roaming the streets and my brother refused to help. I left Lagos out of frustration to Delta State. While I was in Delta State, I met my childhood friend Joseph, and told him to help me organise people for the robbery operation. I stayed two months there strategising and perfecting plans to rob my uncle. If we had succeeded in the operation, I would have used the money to process travel documents to travel to Austria. A friend of mine who I met when I was an apprentice had promised to help me process documents if I had the money. When I was living with my uncle, I worked as a sales boy in his furniture company. He wasn’t paying me; he only gave me pocket money" he said

A member of the gang, 22 year old Joseph Ovologbarho who claims to be  a plumber when interrogated said

"I am a plumber from Delta State. Some months ago, Emmanuel came to my house in Delta and said I should assist him with people to rob his uncle in Lagos. So I arranged with two of my friends, Innocent Ibe and Victor Ezenwa who also participated in the operation. We got the guns from Oyoma Akbojiyouwi, when I went to purchase bullets from him. The gun I am holding is for my grandfather, he is the eldest man in my community so, he uses the gun for protection. I got involved in the operation because Emmanuel promised to give me large amount of money after the operation. I never knew he went to prison. We came to Lagos in the month of July and we carried out the operation on July 18, 2014. These local guns were found in his house when we took SARS operatives to the place.”

Another member Victor Ezenwa said

"I am from Imo state, I am a professional painter, and my friend brought us to Lagos to rob his uncle. He paid our transport from Delta State and when we came, he lodged us in a hotel in Volks along Badagry express way. We spent a day in the hotel before we went for the operation. He told me that his uncle is very wealthy and that he keeps a lot of cash, including foreign notes in the house. He promised to give me a lot of cash to start up my business. That was why I agreed to participate in the operation. I regret participating in this operation. I will never rob in my life again. “

Innocent Ibe said

"I am from Imo State, but I reside in Delta State. My friend Joseph brought me into this operation; they informed me that his uncle had a lot of foreign currency kept in his house. He told me that we are not using gun, that all we needed to do was to follow him to the house. Emmanuel promised to reward us handsomely after the operation but unfortunately we were arrested.”

Oyoma Akbojiyouwi said

"I am the youth leader in my community in Delta State and we use these locally made guns for security purposes. When we arrest suspects, we hand them over to the vigilante group and they will then hand them over to the police. Some months back, Joseph, a member of the vigilante came to me with their vehicle to get bullets to go on patrol. So, I gave him and he went away. Last week, SARS operatives came to my father’s house in Delta State and arrested me for selling bullets to Joseph. According to police sources, they brought a pump action for the robbery operation in Lagos. We got to my uncle’s house at about 7pm for the operation. Unfortunately, innocent was caught while we were attempting to break into the building, the rest of us fled but were later arrested. Emmanuel and the other members escaped back to Delta State but were traced and arrested" he said

 Source: Vanguard