Following a tip-off that some armed
robbers had invaded a supermarket in the Ilorin metropolis, officers of
the Nigeria Police Force, Kwara State command, swung into action. They
got a member of the four-man gang involved in the operation, who led
them to the others.
In a statement
issued by the command, the police explained the mode of operation of
the gang: “The robbers, armed with rifles, invaded the supermarket in a
Nissan Sunny car with registration number ABUJA CX 63 ABC. While one of
them remained inside the car, positioned in a getaway position, three
of them went inside the supermarket and initially pretended to be
customers but, suddenly, one of them brought out an AK-47 rifle
concealed under his flowing agbada. They ordered all the staff and
other customers to lie face down on the ground. The armed robbers
carted away the cash sum of ?173,000 and other valuables such as
assorted GSM handsets, provisions and jewellery valued about ?250,000.”
While making their escape, the
statement added, the robbers shot at a passerby, who was hit in the
hand, before attacking one Saka Akeem of Green Life Pharmaceutical
Limited, Lagos, dispossessing him of two GSM handsets and his official
Kia Rio car, with registration number LAGOS DL 850 LSD, containing
large quantities of assorted drugs.
Among items recovered from the robbers
were one automatic pump action gun, 96 rounds of live cartridges, and
one AK-47 magazine with 62 AK-47 live ammunition.
Speaking to NEXT, one of the robbery
suspects, Fahad Kamaldeen, 31, of Oloje housing estate in Ilorin,
claimed ignorance of the act. According to him, “I was invited by one
of my friends for an outing in company of some other people and I was
told that they wanted to buy pure water (sachets) and I should help sit
by the steering (wheel) when suddenly I saw some police pursuing me.”
In a related development, two suspects,
Gbenga Olatunji and Segun Ojo, both 18 years old, of Mogaji compound in
Tanke, Ilorin, were also arrested by the police after breaking into the
residence of Ayanda Tunde and Tayo Busari and making away with two
laptops, medical equipment, mobile phones, DVD players, window blinds
and articles of clothing. The suspects, however, attributed their
action to the devil.
According to them, “Both of us are
apprentice (bricklayer and metal worker) pushed by the spirit of the
devil. We were (apprehended) by our elder brothers and handed over to
the police.”/
