‘I was forced into robbery’

A 27-year-old robbery suspect, Ifeanyi Douglas, has blamed his involvement in crime on intimidation.

 Douglas was paraded on Tuesday alongside two others for robbing some banks in the South-West and Kwara State at the Lagos State Police Command.

The suspects were said to be part of a larger gang.

Douglas, Jamiu Isasi and Yinusa Lati were arrested last week by the Special Anti Robbery Squad Ikeja, Lagos after their locations were revealed by one of their accomplices.

Douglas, a former sales boy at Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, toldPUNCH Metro that he received N380,000 after the gang robbed a bank in Osun State.

He said, “I ran into the robbers by chance when I went visiting an elder brother at Ajue in Ondo State. I had taken my brother’s motorcycle out when a Toyota Sienna stopped by my side.

“There were about four men in the vehicle. They wanted the direction to the Benin/Ore Expressway. When I told them I had no idea of the direction, they brought out a gun and threatened me. I had no choice but to lead them. In fact, one of them got out of the Sienna and climbed on the bike behind me.

“After that, they took my number and began communicating with me. They threatened me that they knew my whereabouts and could harm me at will if I exposed them. Out of fear, I told no one, not even my brother.

“One day, they called me and asked me to meet them in Ore. Then I had gone back to my job in Ijebu Ode. I had to take a bike to Ore. I didn’t know they were planning a robbery in Osun State. That was how I went along for the robbery at First Bank.”

Lati, a onetime smuggler, told PUNCH Metro that he only drove the gang during their operations and had never handled any firearm.

He said, “I knew just one member of the gang and his name is Randy. I used to smuggle goods for him across the Seme border. I had no idea he was a robber until when we both undertook a trip to Benin, Edo state.

“While we were in Ore, Randy told me that the car I used for smuggling could serve as an armoury if we had to rob a bullion van. When we were on our way back to Lagos, a bullion van drove past and Randy told me that it was that sort of vehicle that we would rob.”

“Two weeks after, about eight members of the group intercepted a bullion van in Odogbolu. There wasn’t much in the van; just two empty boxes, a bag of rice and a small amount of dollars. I was paid N150,000 .”

Isasi, a father of three and a native of Igbaga in Kwara State, confessed his role in another bank robbery.

He said, “We were about 13 and we wanted to rob two banks; Union Bank and First Bank in Kwara. They were both in the same area. We split ourselves into two. I went with a group to First Bank. It was already 5pm so the bank was closed for the day. Except for two employees we met.

“We used dynamites to blow up the entrance. All I had to do was to pack the money into bags. I didn’t handle any firearm.”

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Umaru Manko, said the suspects also confessed to other robberies in Lagos, Ogun and Ondo states.