Poverty responsible for my robbery

By OKOSUN OKHUELEIGBE

A member of a 3-man armed robbery gang identified as  Ese Ebrorhie, whose operations had been a thorn in the flesh of residents and motorists around Mile 2 and Apapa areas of Lagos State has blamed his involvement in robbery on poverty.

The suspect said the success of their operations was attributed to the use of ‘motorcycles’ which helped members of the gang to escape from scenes of robbery operations.

Ese was arrested by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), in a foiled an attempt by members of the gang to unleash mayhem on law abiding residents of the state.

It was learnt that two members of the gang escaped with a locally – made double barrel gun and a pistol, while Ese was nabbed by the vigilant policemen.

In his confessional statement, said that he joined the robbery syndicate to source for means of livelihood as poverty has limited his achievement in life.

Ese explained, “I bought a fairly used motorcycle popularly known as okada which developed small problem and there was nobody to help me, so I joined the gang to raise funds to repair the okada.

“We operated at dawn around 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. and at night from 9:00 p.m. We rob only commercial buses by pretending to be passengers at bus stop around Mile 2 and Apapa”

“Once inside the bus, the gang leader simply identified as Zubby, who is holding one of our guns, will hold the bus driver hostage while we began to rob and dispossess every passenger of their belongings. After the operation, we disembarked and mounted our waiting bike moving beside the bus to escape.

“I have gone on three operations with them. The first operation, I was given N8, 000. The second one, I was given N15, 000.00. This is my third operation with the gang. Zubby, is the one that collects and sells all the belongings we collect during operations. He is the one who share the booty to everyone”, he added.

Ese who lives at Takwa Bay, Snake Island added that “Before every robbery operation, we converged at Berger. Most of our victims mistake us for passengers. When I asked Zubby where he got the guns, he told me that he bought them. Zubby is an Igbo while Emmanuel is from Calabar.

He claimed that he knew members of the gang since he came to Lagos as a car washer but didn’t know they were armed robbers then.

“They invited me to the operation whenever they wish. Sometimes, I can be in Berger for two days without seeing them,” he added.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Joe Offor confirmed the arrest of the suspect and also confirmed that the suspect will be charged to court while investigation is ongoing. He also advised the public to be wary of this yuletide period.