Detectives attached to the Abia State Police Command have arrested a 23-year-old man for allegedly robbing a filling station in the state, NewTelegraph reported.
He
begged that he will become a pastor if he is forgiven. The suspect
identified as Eziaha Joshua, from Ukwa West Local Government Area,
confessed that he and his gang members attacked and robbed the filling
station located at Obehie in Ukwa West Local Government Area, carting
away N86,000, which was realised from the day’s sales.
Joshua,
who introduced himself as the gang leader, said that he got N35,000 as
his share of the loot. He explained that the motorcyclist, who took them
to the scene of the crime, smiled home with N18,000. He noted that the
third suspect, who is still on the run, got N27,000.
Narrating
how he and his gang members carried out the robbery operation, Joshua
explained that his friend, Onyempa, sold the idea of robbing the filling
station to him and he bought it.
He said:
“Onyempa told me that he had a short gun and a knife, which he and others used in disarming people going to their offices in the morning before robbing them of their valuables. Onyempa asked me to arrange for a motorcyclist, who would take us to the filling station. I contacted a commercial motorcyclist, who I had known for long. I told the cyclist about the operation and he agreed to join. I then rehearsed the operation with him.”
On
the fateful day of the operation, the gang got to the filling station
about 7.30 p.m. This was the time given to them to arrive at the scene
by Onyempa.
Onyempa
also told them that he wouldn’t join them at the filling station
because the manager and some of the attendants knew him.
The
plan was for Onyempa to wait at the point where the motorbike was
parked among flower hedge until after the operation. It was a successful
operation.
The
gang robbed the filling station and disappeared into the darkness.
However, luck ran out on them when the manager reported the matter to
the police. The manager also remembered the type of perfume one of the
armed robbers sprayed on the day the gang stormed the filling station.
It was the perfume that exposed Joshua and led to his eventual arrest.
A police source said:
“The suspect lives in that community. He also used to work as a tiller in that community. The perfume was not a common one. One day, the suspect and the manager walked past each other. The manager smelt the perfume fragrance on Joshua and started suspecting him. He reported to the police. The rest, as they used to say, is history. We followed up on the manager’s complaint and observation. We picked Joshua, during interrogation, he confessed.”
While in police custody, Joshua told the police that the filling station robbery was not his first operation.
He said:
“I regret my action. I promise to repent and enrol in a Bible school and become a pastor if I’m pardoned. Before I started robbing, I was a tiller. I also play music at events.”
The
cyclist, who gave his name as Chibuike, said he was a software
engineer, but got involved in robbery because it sounded attractive. He,
however, confessed that he actually did the operation, but added that
it was a mistake.
The
state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Leye Oyebade, said that the gang was
arrested on June 13, following a tip-off. The police boss said that the
gang robbed the filling station on May 19.
He said:
“They were arrested by operatives of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) attached to Obehie Police Station. This was as a result of the follow up to the arrest of Joshua and a member of the three-man gang. The two suspects, who are members of a three-man gang, confessed to have robbed Ezeudu Chinasa of Benvick Filling Station, of her Intel phone valued N180,000, a wristwatch and a bag containing a Holy Bible.”
Oyebade
added that the gang members were armed with a locally-made pistol,
kitchen knife and rode on a motorcycle. He said the Intel phone had been
recovered, while policemen are already on the trail of the third
suspect.
Oyebade
urged members of the public to assist police with information, in order
to reduce crime in the state. This was even as he promised Nigerians
who assist police with information of absolute confidentiality.
According
to Oyebade, in keeping with the avowed commitment to a crime-free
state, the police in the state was collaborating with banks and private
school proprietors.
The
commissioner observed that with the recent arrest of suspected kidnap
kingpin, Chukwumeme Onwuamadike aka Evans, kidnapping would no longer be
attractive. He noted that the command would follow the recent
achievement of the police, with proactive policing in Abia State.
He added: “We
will continue to do our best and with the collaboration of sister
security agencies in the state. We will intensify land patrol and
air/helicopter surveillance.”
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