Hardship, wickedness of neighbours pushed me into robbery, says suspect

ONE of three armed robbery suspects paraded by the police in Lagos, Babatunde Segun, aged 21, who resides in Ayobo, a suburb of Lagos, has confessed that wickedness and selfishness of neighbours and people he met in Lagos pushed him to armed robbery. The unending hardship that wheelbarrow pushers go through in the course of daily duties was another factor, he added.
His accomplices are Bala Mohammed, 19, and Toheed Ashimiyu, 18, from Lafenwa community in Ogun State.
According to the police, the three-man gang were wheelbarrow pushers before they allegedly embraced armed robbery for quick money. They specialised in tearing down the mosquito nets on windows and doors of victims who are mostly tenants in ‘face me I face you’ rooms, one bedroom and parlour arrangement, rooms with facilities en suite called ‘self-contained apartment’, one-bedroom flats, two-bedroom flats, three-bedroom flats and shops.
The police also revealed that the alleged robbers usually cart away moveable items like expensive phones, laptops, ipad, gold necklace, money in cash, ATM cards, wristwatches, gold rings, expensive shoes, clean good shirts and pairs of trousers, canvas shoes and sandals.
The source added that the three suspects operated on October 15 at about 3.30 a.m. at Johnson Joseph and Akinlade Streets in the Ashipa area of Ayobo, Lagos. When they reportedly turned into a nuisance with incessant armed robbery criminal activities, the officers and men of Ayobo Police Division captured one of the suspects and transferred him to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
Further investigations by operatives of SARS led to the arrest of two other suspects, Babatunde and Bala. All made confessional statements and would soon be charged to court, said the source.
Exhibits recovered from them include a pair of scissors, cutlass, razor blades and two cellphones.

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