I want to join the police force to fight crime.”- Suspected robber (Photo)

Noted for terrorising the Lagos suburbs of Ijesha and Ikotun and Aguda, Surulere, the suspects identified as Francis Ogbonna, Chisom Joseph and Oloko Raheem blamed the economic recession as reasons for embarking on a car-snatching spree.The gang, which formed at the Kirikiri Medium Prison, robbed six owners of their cars at Ajao Estate, Surulere, Ijesha and Ikotun areas of Lagos State. A police source disclosed that the suspects were rounded up in a popular hotel by the police while they attempted to sell the stolen cars to a buyer.

Narrating the gang’s origin, its leader, Ogbonna, disclosed that he left prison an angry man on a mission to right the initial ‘mistake’ of not making enough money from armed robbery while relieving the rich of their cars.



“I am 27 years old,. “I am from Umuahia South Local Government Area of Abia State. After I finished my secondary school, I came to Lagos and I lived in Surulere. It was there that I started my taxi business. I worked until 2013 before relocating to the east.“I went into crime last November. One of my friends, who was my secondary school classmate known as Uchenna, called me and asked that I should help to drive a stolen car from Lagos to Owerri. I knew Uchenna was an armed robber and I also knew that the car I was to drive was a stolen car. We move mainly at night, and he paid me N50, 000 for each of the cars. I delivered a Camry ‘tiny light’, and the second was a sequoia SUV. The third one was a Lexus 330, but I was arrested by some custom officials.

“I came to Lagos State on December 13 and we started going back on the 14th of the same month. At Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, some customs officials stopped us. I showed them the papers and they saw a telephone number on the customer license paper, and the owner identified the car that he was robbed of. I was arrested. Uche (Uchenna) ran away and I was taken to customs office in Ikeja.

“I was brought to the police station and I took them to Uchenna’s house in the village. They saw him but he managed to escape through the bush. I was charged to court afterwards and remanded in prison. We had two cars on the day I was arrested but I managed to escape with one of the vehicles. I asked him to get me fully involved.

“When I got to prison, I met Chimobi and Raheem. I knew them at Aguda, and we normally smoke at the canal. They knew me as a taxi driver, and when I saw them in prison, I was shocked. They told me that they went to rob and there was a Hausa guy known as Steven that they gave a car to but he was arrested and he led policemen to arrest them in a hotel. Since we came from the same area, we became very close.”

“In May 2016, Chisom and Raheem were released on bail and they left the prison, while I also regained my freedom in July. When I was in prison, I tried to connect with Uchenna. He told me that he was travelling out of the country because his guys were killed and he did not want to stay in the country again. I told him that he was the one who got me into trouble and when I persisted, he switched off his line and changed his number. I became angry because I was the only one facing the case. Then I decided that I would go fully into armed robbery. I met a guy called Amos, and he linked me to one Alhaji that buys stolen vehicles.

“I called him when I was in prison and he said he would wait for me until I was released. I also met one Tosin, who was a buyer. When I was released, I called Tosin and Alhaji that I had been released and I was heading for village. A few weeks after I was released, Tosin and Alhaji started calling me. I told Tosin that I had no gun. He asked me to come to Lagos and that he would ‘organise’ a gun for me.
“I informed Raheem about it and he told me that he was ready. I came into Lagos and I lodged at Hotel 36 in Aguda, Surulere. The next day, he brought a double barrel locally made pistol with five cartridges