After breaking every obstacle to gain entry into a bank vault, they got the shock of their lives when they got into the vault and discovered that it was empty – starved of liquid cash.
The gang of robbers had on Christmas Eve broken into a new generation bank in Ondo state but got more than what they bargained for.
The suspects, Ebibo Winoh, Michael Mipera, Thankgod Sugha and Idowu Sobijoh, were said to have been shocked to maroon when they opened the bank’s vault and met it without a kobo.
However, the robbers were nabbed at the weekend by operatives of the Inspector General of Police Special Intelligence Response Team (SIRT) in Ondo state. The suspects disclosed that they were able to break into the vault with the help of a former security guard in the bank.
It was gathered that the former security guard was sacked last year when he allegedly approached a member of the gang, Michael Mipera, with the robbery idea. He told the gang that security at the bank was always light at night.
The gang leader, Mipera confessed that they aggressively monitored the bank for several weeks before they struck. “After the bank’s former security man gave us information, we rented a room close to the police station in the community. We found a petty job, as a form of distraction while we monitored the activities of the police and that of the bank.
“We discovered that at night, there is no private security official or policeman guarding the bank. We also discovered that the police station was not active and cannot easily withstand us if we are heavily armed.
“As soon as the experts from Ikorodu arrived, we agreed to strike on Christmas Eve because everyone is supposed to be busy preparing for Christmas.
“We entered the bank easily and broke into the vault. We got the shock of our lives when we discovered that it was empty. We realised that was the result the bank was starved of active security network at night.”
They expressed disappointment especially as the gang was arrested. Begging for mercy, they pleaded with the authority to forgive them because they did not succeed as they are indebted to those they hired from Lagos to assist break the bank vault.