About three months ago,
Chibueze Nkwocha lived
peacefully in Awka, capital of
Anambra State, with his wife and
child. He quietly earned a living as
an auto mechanic. Unfortunately,
in what seemed like a sudden
twist of fate, he was recently
arrested by the police in Lagos
for alleged armed robbery.
In an interview with CRIME
DIGEST, Nkwocha recounted the
circumstances that lured him into
robbery.
"A few weeks before my wife put
to bed, I had a surgical operation
for hernia. I had pulled together
all my resources to pay for the
operation. It wasn't long after
this that my pregnant wife put to
bed. Since I was not working
actively at the time, I didn't have
the money to care for my wife
and child.
"I phoned a cousin of mine who
lives in Lagos and explained my
predicament to him. I asked him
to assist me with some money.
He agreed to help me and
encouraged me to come to
Lagos. Before this time, I had
never been to Lagos in my life,"
he said.
Encouraged by his cousin's
invitation, Nkwocha got on a bus
the next day and travelled to
Lagos. When he arrived in the
city, Nkwocha called his cousin to
inform him about his location.
But the latter's cell phone was
switched off.
He said, "I was stranded; I had
spent my last kobo to get to
Lagos and had no money to go
back. I didn't know what to do. I
had no idea where my cousin
lived in Lagos; he was supposed
to have picked me up at the bus
terminus.
"I wandered around and
eventually found my way to Coker
at about 8 pm. After loitering for
a while, I noticed a group of men
in a corner, smoking and
drinking. I moved closer and
overheard one of them speaking
in Igbo.
"I approached the man and
conversed with him in Igbo,
narrating my predicament. He
took pity on me and told me that
he would help me, but I would
need to cooperate with him and
join his group. He was called
Nduka."
And so began Nkwocha's foray
into robbery under Nduka's
watch. Although he didn't make
much money in the enterprise,
he got enough to feed himself.
"One day, Nduka received a
phone call and told me that I had
to accompany his friend on an
assignment. That was how I met
Ajayi. I went with him on robbery
operations three times. The first
time, I got N4000. I was paid
N2000 after the second
operation. I was caught and
arrested in my third attempt with
Kola at Dolphin Estate in Ikoyi. I
truly regret my actions. All I
wanted was to raise funds to
take care of my wife and baby
back home," he said.
Nkwocha's accomplice, Kolawole
Ajayi, was a dealer in telephone
accessories at the Computer
Village in Ikeja, who allegedly
augmented his earnings by
indulging in crime.
Ajayi was said to have been
receiving stolen goods from his
friends and sold them at
different occasions. In 2006, he
was arrested for buying a stolen
laptop computer and charged to
the Igbosere Magistrate's Court.
He was granted bail after a few
weeks of being remanded at the
Ikoyi Prison.
About one year later, Ajayi was
back in court. This time, he had
progressed to armed robbery. He
was alleged to have stolen a
laptop and phone from a shop at
gunpoint. He was charged to the
Ikeja High Court and
subsequently jailed for two years.
After he was discharged from
prison, Ajayi went back to selling
phones. Soon, he started
recruiting new members for his
group, most of whom he met at
a popular entertainment hangout
in the Agindingbi area of the city.
By the time he was through with
the recruitment 'exercise,' he had
become the leader of an 11-man
gang of robbers.
Ajayi led his gang to launch many
robbery attacks in parts of Lagos.
Most of the time, the gang
roamed streets in search of
possible victims. At other times, it
acted on information as with the
Dolphin Estate robbery incident
that finally led to the arrest of the
suspects.
Recalling that particular robbery
attack, he said, "I didn't mean to
come back to armed robbery, but
making ends meet was so
difficult. There was a girl I met
through a friend. She came with
the idea of robbing a certain
man at DolphinEstate. I don't
know her relationship with the
family, but she assured me that
we would get a lot of money.
"I prepared my gang and we
went to the address she gave
me. When I mentioned the name
of the landlord and told the
gateman that I wanted to see the
man, he opened the gate for us
and we went in. We got plenty of
money in hard currency and
jewellery from that house. I was
paid N2m for the entire booty."
While the robbery was in
progress, a neighbour had
alerted the Dolphin police station.
But Ajayi sighted a team of
policemen approaching the
scene of the crime and fled with
other members of the gang.
Nkwocha and another suspect
were not so lucky. The former
was immediately arrested, while
his accomplice was shot while
trying to evade arrest.
The Commissioner of Police in
Lagos State, Mr. Umaru Manko,
confirmed the incident. He said,
"Nkwocha was transferred to the
Special Anti-Robbery Squad after
his arrest by the Dolphin police
division. His accomplice did not
survive the gunshot.
"Nkwocha confessed to his crime
and gave the investigating SARS
team Ajayi's phone number. Ajayi
was tracked through his phone
for two weeks after which the
SARS team was able to stage an
arrest through the help of one of
his receivers.
"Ajayi was eventually arrested on
Dec. 1. He cooperated with SARS
and lured his gang members to
their meeting point before any
robbery attack close to Cash and
Carry, Ikeja.
"Although four other members
of the gang are on the run, seven
others; Sylvester Okafor, Olalekan
Williams, Femi Sosanya, Lucky
John, Ebere Chukwu, Ugochukwu
Okechukwu and Mohammed Ali,
were arrested by SARS. Two
revolver pistols, one locally-made
pistol and four ammunition were
recovered from the suspects.
They would be charged to court
upon the completion of our
investigation."
Chibueze Nkwocha lived
peacefully in Awka, capital of
Anambra State, with his wife and
child. He quietly earned a living as
an auto mechanic. Unfortunately,
in what seemed like a sudden
twist of fate, he was recently
arrested by the police in Lagos
for alleged armed robbery.
In an interview with CRIME
DIGEST, Nkwocha recounted the
circumstances that lured him into
robbery.
"A few weeks before my wife put
to bed, I had a surgical operation
for hernia. I had pulled together
all my resources to pay for the
operation. It wasn't long after
this that my pregnant wife put to
bed. Since I was not working
actively at the time, I didn't have
the money to care for my wife
and child.
"I phoned a cousin of mine who
lives in Lagos and explained my
predicament to him. I asked him
to assist me with some money.
He agreed to help me and
encouraged me to come to
Lagos. Before this time, I had
never been to Lagos in my life,"
he said.
Encouraged by his cousin's
invitation, Nkwocha got on a bus
the next day and travelled to
Lagos. When he arrived in the
city, Nkwocha called his cousin to
inform him about his location.
But the latter's cell phone was
switched off.
He said, "I was stranded; I had
spent my last kobo to get to
Lagos and had no money to go
back. I didn't know what to do. I
had no idea where my cousin
lived in Lagos; he was supposed
to have picked me up at the bus
terminus.
"I wandered around and
eventually found my way to Coker
at about 8 pm. After loitering for
a while, I noticed a group of men
in a corner, smoking and
drinking. I moved closer and
overheard one of them speaking
in Igbo.
"I approached the man and
conversed with him in Igbo,
narrating my predicament. He
took pity on me and told me that
he would help me, but I would
need to cooperate with him and
join his group. He was called
Nduka."
And so began Nkwocha's foray
into robbery under Nduka's
watch. Although he didn't make
much money in the enterprise,
he got enough to feed himself.
"One day, Nduka received a
phone call and told me that I had
to accompany his friend on an
assignment. That was how I met
Ajayi. I went with him on robbery
operations three times. The first
time, I got N4000. I was paid
N2000 after the second
operation. I was caught and
arrested in my third attempt with
Kola at Dolphin Estate in Ikoyi. I
truly regret my actions. All I
wanted was to raise funds to
take care of my wife and baby
back home," he said.
Nkwocha's accomplice, Kolawole
Ajayi, was a dealer in telephone
accessories at the Computer
Village in Ikeja, who allegedly
augmented his earnings by
indulging in crime.
Ajayi was said to have been
receiving stolen goods from his
friends and sold them at
different occasions. In 2006, he
was arrested for buying a stolen
laptop computer and charged to
the Igbosere Magistrate's Court.
He was granted bail after a few
weeks of being remanded at the
Ikoyi Prison.
About one year later, Ajayi was
back in court. This time, he had
progressed to armed robbery. He
was alleged to have stolen a
laptop and phone from a shop at
gunpoint. He was charged to the
Ikeja High Court and
subsequently jailed for two years.
After he was discharged from
prison, Ajayi went back to selling
phones. Soon, he started
recruiting new members for his
group, most of whom he met at
a popular entertainment hangout
in the Agindingbi area of the city.
By the time he was through with
the recruitment 'exercise,' he had
become the leader of an 11-man
gang of robbers.
Ajayi led his gang to launch many
robbery attacks in parts of Lagos.
Most of the time, the gang
roamed streets in search of
possible victims. At other times, it
acted on information as with the
Dolphin Estate robbery incident
that finally led to the arrest of the
suspects.
Recalling that particular robbery
attack, he said, "I didn't mean to
come back to armed robbery, but
making ends meet was so
difficult. There was a girl I met
through a friend. She came with
the idea of robbing a certain
man at DolphinEstate. I don't
know her relationship with the
family, but she assured me that
we would get a lot of money.
"I prepared my gang and we
went to the address she gave
me. When I mentioned the name
of the landlord and told the
gateman that I wanted to see the
man, he opened the gate for us
and we went in. We got plenty of
money in hard currency and
jewellery from that house. I was
paid N2m for the entire booty."
While the robbery was in
progress, a neighbour had
alerted the Dolphin police station.
But Ajayi sighted a team of
policemen approaching the
scene of the crime and fled with
other members of the gang.
Nkwocha and another suspect
were not so lucky. The former
was immediately arrested, while
his accomplice was shot while
trying to evade arrest.
The Commissioner of Police in
Lagos State, Mr. Umaru Manko,
confirmed the incident. He said,
"Nkwocha was transferred to the
Special Anti-Robbery Squad after
his arrest by the Dolphin police
division. His accomplice did not
survive the gunshot.
"Nkwocha confessed to his crime
and gave the investigating SARS
team Ajayi's phone number. Ajayi
was tracked through his phone
for two weeks after which the
SARS team was able to stage an
arrest through the help of one of
his receivers.
"Ajayi was eventually arrested on
Dec. 1. He cooperated with SARS
and lured his gang members to
their meeting point before any
robbery attack close to Cash and
Carry, Ikeja.
"Although four other members
of the gang are on the run, seven
others; Sylvester Okafor, Olalekan
Williams, Femi Sosanya, Lucky
John, Ebere Chukwu, Ugochukwu
Okechukwu and Mohammed Ali,
were arrested by SARS. Two
revolver pistols, one locally-made
pistol and four ammunition were
recovered from the suspects.
They would be charged to court
upon the completion of our
investigation."
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