Gang recounts how robbery operations were coordinated from prison

An eight-man armed robbery gang has recounted how most of its operations were coordinated from a correctional centre by its leader.

The suspects alleged that one Clement Abana alias Millions who they identified as their leader was responsible for most of the violent crimes committed in Lagos and most of the South West states.

The police identified the suspects as Sunday Solemu, Fred Robinson, Abuchi Frederick, Emeka Ilo, Ekene Igbani and two dismissed soldiers, Ayeni Samuel and Emeka Ariston.

One of the gang members, Ribinson, told police interrogators that, “I was a wood logger before I went into oil bunkering. It was my cousin, Millions, who introduced me to the oil bunkering business. Millions also got me involved in armed robbery. I made the N5m I invested in oil bunkering from the 2015 Lekki bank robbery.

“That was the business I was doing before my friend, Sunday Soyemi, brought this Ebonyi State bullion van robbery. I called my cousin in prison who gave me all the expertise I needed for the operation.

“He was the person who linked me to the soldiers I used for the operation. He also advised that we should not use our vehicles for the operation, but we should use robbed cars. We followed his instructions. Soyemi brought the guns and dynamite we used for the operation, but the operation failed because we were not prepared at the time the bullion van came to our spot. We exchanged fire with the police escort and the van escaped.”

On his part, Soyemi (46), a native of Bayelsa State, said the bullion van robbery failed because the police escort following it noticed their presence and opened fire on them.

Soyemi explained that, “We weren’t prepared when the bullion van and the escort approached our location. They opened fire on us and we weren’t prepared. We shot back but the van escaped.

“We killed four of the policemen and left Ebonyi immediately. We proceeded to Akwa, Anambra State, and robbed a man of the sum of N7.5m, then we were in Asaba, strategising on how to rob a bank when the police swooped on us.”

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, who confirmed the arrests, said all the suspects would soon be arraigned in court.