The suspects, Chibuike Mbakwe, Tochukwu Eze, Ifeanyi Okeke, Chidi Eze
and Okechukwu Mbakwe are said to be members of a syndicate that
specialises in robbing unsuspecting passengers in commercial buses by
offering them sachet water laced with sedatives.
Last Tuesday,
Chibuike, Eze and Okeke boarded a commercial bus in company with four
others in the Ikeja area and headed for Yaba. Unknown to them, it was in
the same bus that they robbed a sedated passenger the previous week.
Also,
they were unaware that the driver of the vehicle had reported the
incident to the Sabo Police Division and he had been advised to watch
out for a future occurrence.
Little did this driver know that fate would bring the same group of robbers into his bus again.
CRIME
DIGEST gathered that the leader of the gang, a 30-year-old suspect
known simply as Chioma, is currently on the run. Usually, his method is
well rehearsed. He would sit close to his victim and beckon on another
member of the gang who pretends to hawk sachet water by the roadside.
Chioma
would then purchase a sachet of water with N20 and ask for a balance of
N10. When the hawker hesitates, Chioma would buy another sachet and
offer it to his victim on the pretext of not wanting to forfeit the
balance. Naturally unaware that it had been tampered with, the victim
would accept the offer and drink the water. Everything happens within a
few minutes.
As expected, after about 10 minutes or so, the
victim becomes drowsy and eventually falls asleep. Everything of value
in the possession of the victim is then stolen by Chioma who later
alights from the bus before its final destination. In an interview with
CRIME DIGEST, the suspects said the effects of the sedatives usually
wore off after three hours.
Describing how he got involved with
the gang, Chibuike said, The leader of our group is Chioma. I met him in
Alaba market in 2011. At the time, I was trading in phone accessories.
After we became friends, he told me how he was able to rob people by
sedating them. Eventually he convinced me to abandon my trade and join
his gang.
Chioma always picked his victims. I dont know how he
chooses them. All I did with the rest members of the gang was to gang
around the bus park with him and board the same bus with him. This will
enable the bus to fill up faster and our presence close to Chioma also
provides cover for his activities.
I have no idea how the sachet
water is laced with sedatives. A full bag, except one sachet of water is
usually laced with sedatives and packaged before it is brought to the
park.
Unfortunately, he was unable to identify what substance was mixed with the pure water.
Okeke
was identified as the hawker in the gang. Only last year, he had
returned to Lagos from his hometown in Anambra State. He said, After I
returned to Lagos, I worked with some drivers who smuggled rice and
other items from the Seme border into Lagos as a bus conductor. On our
way back to Seme, we would pick up passengers. About a month ago, Chioma
and his gang boarded the vehicle conveying me.
While we were on
our way to Seme, I noticed Chioma carefully searching his victims
pockets and stealing their money. I was surprised and wanted to raise
the alarm, but he silently pleaded with me not to talk. He took my phone
number and promised to settle me.
When we met a few days later,
he gave me N500 and persuaded me to join his gang. He said it was a
lucrative venture. I believed him and abandoned my job. Yet, all I got
in the month I worked with him was N8,000 and two Visa brand cell
phones. I was making far less than what I earned while on the Seme
route. I believe Chioma was cheating me.
Before every outing,
Chioma would meet me somewhere and give me a bag of sedated pure water
to carry. I would then accompany the group to the motor park of their
choice and hang around any bus they board until Chioma calls on me,
Okeke said.
However, Chidi denied his involvement with the group.
I admit that I was once involved in this trade. But since I returned
from Kirikiri prison a few months ago, I have gone back to selling phone
accessories. I dont play this trick anymore. It was on Tuesday evening
that I learned from Okechukwu through a phone call that my brother had
been arrested by the police, but I didnt bother because I had earlier
warned Tochukwu of the consequences of his actions.
I was
surprised when in the early hours of Wednesday morning; some SARS
operatives came into my compound with Tochukwu and Chibuike. They had
come to arrest me.
The Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Mr.
Umaru Manko, confirmed the arrests, adding that the gang was
apprehended by members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers
in Ikeja. He said, They were about seven in number at the time and had
boarded a bus which unknown to them, they had boarded the week before.
The
driver was already on the lookout for them, but it was the conductor
who noticed that the same group of persons had boarded the bus before.
When he raised the alarm, other members of the NURTW present at the
scene tried to round them up. The prime suspect, Chioma, fled with three
others. Efforts are being made to track them down.
Although
Chidi and Okechukwu were not present at the scene, they have been
identified as members of another group involved in the same crime. When
Chibuike came to stay with his elder brother, Okechukwu admitted taking
Chibuike along for a bus ride to CMS with another colleague, Goddy.
Goddy
had tutored Okechuwku in the trade at Cotonou where he formerly
resided. Chibuike watched as his brother and Goddy practiced their art
on their unsuspecting victim and coming away with a laptop and phone.
Both
Chidi and Okechukwu have been previously arrested, tried and remanded
in prison for this same offence. While Chidi had served time at Kirikiri
prison, Okechukwu served time at Ibarra prison. All suspects will be
charged to court at the conclusion of our investigation.
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