Two suspected armed robbers who were arrested by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Ikeja, Lagos State Police Command have told the police why they stopped using police rifle to rob.
According to the suspects, identified as Kayode Oduto and Quadri Lateef, they stopped using the rifle, which was snatched from a mobile policeman, for robbery because the ammunition was scarce and expensive.
The duo was arrested after they stormed the Kola, Kollington area of the state and attempted to rob a particular building.
The two men became guests at SARS after the a housewife poured hot water on Oduto and proceeded to use the hot pot to hit his face repeatedly, smashing it beyond recognition as her husband dispossessed him of his gun and pinned him down.
Lateef confessed that the seven-man-gang has an AK47 rifle, among its armoury, which they snatched from a mobile policeman, a long time ago.
He said: “We’ve been using the rifle before, but stopped because getting ammunition for it was very difficult.
“We rented it out.”
The police said it also recovered four pump action rifles, two among the four are automatic carriers of eight rounds.
The police furthermore recovered two locally made guns.
According to the duo, the arms and ammunitions were from T. Money, who is their financier and armourer.
Police investigators discovered that Lateef used to live in the area where they went to rob.
Lateef told Kayode that he knew the nooks and crannies of the area and was sure his knowledge would make the operation easy as a pie.
Lateef picked a building, which he told Kayode is inhabited by a rich man, simply identified as Charles.
When they reached the targeted building, the gate was locked, but the generating set was on.
The two men quickly scaled the fence since they knew there was no dog.
Kayode switched off the generating set and both took strategic positions.
Kayode had a locally made pistol, cut to size, while Lateef had a toy gun.
Few minutes after the generating set went off, Charles stepped out of the house to find out what went wrong.
Kayode pointed a gun to his head and herded him back into the house, while Lateef followed closely behind.
The robbers ordered the man to bring his money and gold.
He told them that the money was in the master’s bedroom.
As they were walking towards his bedroom, the man suddenly turned and grabbed Kayode, trying to dispossess him of the gun.
Rather than assist his partner, a petrified Lateef just stood and watched.
A police source said: “The gun fell down, followed by the victim and Kayode.
“The man was able to pin Kayode down.
“Lateef who had watched as his partner was pinned down, took to his heels.
“As Lateef took off, the man shouted thief! Thief!
“His wife, who was cooking in the kitchen, rushed out.
“She had to use a rechargeable lantern to make out the figures on the ground since the generating set was off.
“She saw her husband struggling to continue to pin Kayode down.
“Immediately she realised what was happening, she ran back to the kitchen.”
Investigators said the woman was boiling water to prepare Poundo Yam before the attack on their home.
She rushed back to the kitchen, came out with the hot water and poured it on the suspect’s face.
“After she poured him the hot water, she used the pot to hit his face repeatedly. She ran outside and started shouting for help. Other residents ran to help and the police was called,” said a source.
The suspect’s face was a mess.
Kayode was used as bait to catch Lateef.
According to Lateef, their gang is a seven-man-gang, but because they were broke, he and Kayode decided to go solo to rob.