A suspected robber, who was part of the gang that terrorised and robbed a lady at the Bariga area of Lagos State, was shocked when the lady saw him one day along the street, latched onto him and raised the alarm.
The suspect, Akeem Mustapha, 20, said he never believed in his wildest imagination that he would run into a victim along his street.
Mustapha said he belonged to a four man gang of robbers.
He named his partners as Sulaiman, Ibrahim and Segun.
He said Sulaiman was the gang leader before his demise.
The police have congratulated the lady for her sharp wit and eagle eyes.
According to the police, Mustapha is one of the wanted robbery suspects on the Police wanted List.
Mustapha said after they robbed the lady, his gang leader was shot and killed by the police.
Police recovered a gun on the corpse of the dead leader.
Mustapha has since identified the gun as the same they used in robbery operations.
The suspect, a child of a broken home, said since his parents went their different ways, his grandmother, 68, had been taking care of him.
He stays with her at Bariga and it was that same area that Mustapha and his gang brazenly used to carry out their robbery operations.
One of their victims was the lady.
Mustapha said he was expelled while he was in SS3 at Ajayi Crowther Memorial Secondary School in Bariga.
He was expelled for fighting.
Since then, he had tried his hands on barbing and learning window designing before the lure of robbery came calling.
Mustapha said: “Police arrested me because we went to rob.
“We used to rob people of phones and necklaces at Odunsi area in Bariga.
“We use machetes and guns as our weapons.
“I was arrested because of the last operation we went at Bamiji Lawal Street in January 2014.
“The lady we robbed saw me on our street and recognised me.
“We robbed her of her necklace and N50,000.
“We robbed her in front of her home, where she used to sell phones and recharged cards.
“The operation was at night.
“She cooperated.
“We sold the necklace.
“Sulaiman said he sold it for N30,000.
“My share was N20,000.”
Mustapha, who said the gang used to mainly operate around the Bariga area, said they had robbed more than six times in Bariga.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Kenneth Nwosu, confirming the arrest of the suspect, explained that some time last year, in June 2014, Ibrahim, Sulaiman, Segun and Mustapha conspired together, armed themselves with a locally made pistol, some cutlasses and started to rob people in Bariga area of their property.
Nwosu said: “The gang leader, Sulaiman was shot dead by policemen from Bariga Police Station, while the remaining gang members took to their heels. Further investigation revealed that Mustapha had been on the wanted list of police since the robbery which took place on December 13, 2014. The lady, who was robbed, sighted Mustapha and identified him. She subsequently raised the alarm, which attracted policemen. The suspect has confessed to the robbery. He identified the gun recovered from the dead robber as their operational gun.”
Mustapha said: “It was Sulaiman who lured me into robbery. He met me one day as I was returning from work. He and some boys were smoking Indian hemp, they called me to join them. The next day, he called and told me he would teach me how to be make money. Since then, I started going to operations with them.”