Policemen-turned-robbers meet Waterloo
■We’ll
never allow such wolves in sheep clothing soil the image of the police –CP
Karma
FROM NGOZI UWUJARE
The armed robbery campaign of some
turncoat policemen ended when they were arrested during a joint operation of
the Anambra State Commissioner of Police Monitoring Unit and the Special
Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the command.
The two policemen, 38-year-old
Corporal I.L.O. Peter, serving at Oguta Division of the Imo State Police
Command and Constable Nicholas Ogbianu, 37, who was dismissed from the Delta
State Police Command, were arrested in Onitsha, Anambra State, for robbery and
for impersonation respectively.
Anambra State Commissioner of
Police, Mr. Hosea Karma told Sunday Sun that the Commander of Anambra SARS, Supol
James Nwafor and his men had been keeping close tabs on the two alleged police
culprits, following reports by individuals that they had been robbed or their
vehicles snatched on the highway by policemen who were wrongly assumed by
innocent members of the public, to be on official duty at checkpoints.
Deeply disturbed by the increasing
number of such reports, a special dragnet was laid out by the command to
apprehend the rotten eggs, whose evil activities had given the police an
odorous smell before the public.
It was not long before the
perpetrators fell into the net of the police. As Sunday Sun learnt from Karma,
the alleged bad egg Corporal Peter and accomplices, Ekene Uche Ohanusi and
Benjamin Obinwanne, were caught during one of their operations.
Recounting some of the past
escapades of the gang, Karma said: “The gang has been involved in several cases
of armed robbery operations and snatching of cars along Onitsha-Owerri
Expressway and robbed several commercial vehicles both during the day and at night.
Also, we also got intelligence
information that some policemen had been robbing people along the highway. So
we set up a monitoring team that worked with the Commander of SARS and his men.
That was how we arrested the suspect, Corporal Peter and his gang members
during their operation.”
He explained that Ogbianu was
dismissed from the Delta State Police Command, following his transfer to
Adamawa State Police Command in 2013. Karma said that Ogbianu launched into a
new ‘career’ of impersonating genuine police officers and engaging in illegal
duties at Onitsha and collecting money from motorists and commercial
motorcyclists. It was in the course of this that officers of the CP’s
Monitoring Unit arrested him at No. 1 Anglican Lane, Nkpor-Agu, Upper Iweka,
Onitsha, while fully dressed in police uniform.
The suspect, Corporal Peter, who
spoke with Sunday Sun said: “I was recruited into the Nigeria Police Force at
Oji-Rivers Police College, Enugu State, in 1999 and posted to Imo State Police
Command, where I was serving at the Oguta Division of the state command.”
Continuing, he told Sunday Sun: “I
formed a gang of armed robbers. We robbed passengers travelling from Anambra
State to Imo State. Sometimes, we will mount road block as if we are carrying
out stop-and-search, and then rob the people or snatch big cars from the
owners. After snatching the car, a member of the gang will sell the car and
give me my own share, which may be from N100,000 to N200,000.
Peter further disclosed that he is a
native of Udi Local Government Area, Enugu State, adding he received regular
returns from members of his gang even when he was on course at the police
college.
His words: “I went on course for
promotion to rank of corporal at Oji River Police College, Enugu State. My gang
members still continued with the armed robbery operations and always sent money
to me during the course. I went into armed robbery five years ago. Sometimes, I
give out my arm and ammunition to the gang to use for armed robbery
operations. I never imagined that one day I would be caught.
“On June 5, 2015, a member of the
gang and myself snatched a Lexus SUV with registration number BBC 105JT, along
Ozubulu road, belonging to one Mrs. Jennifer Adaeze Ohizu and we wanted to sell
the car in Aba. We also snatched another Toyota SUV at Okija, Anambra State and
collected some ransom from the victims. We made money when we sold the SUV.”
When Sunday Sun visited the Imo
State Police Command to verify the information about Peter, our correspondent
learnt from a senior police source that policeman turned robbery suspect was
working in the Store Department at the headquarters of the command, Owerri,
before it was discovered that items were missing. Through a careful
investigation, it was discovered that Peter had allegedly stolen the items.
He was reprimanded and on
compassionate grounds transferred to Oguta Police Division in the hope that he
would turn a new leaf. The source said the command was shocked to learn that
Peter had allegedly turned to armed robbery. Following his arrest by the
Anambra State Police Command, the source told Sunday Sun that the Imo State
Police Command summarily dismissed the robbery suspect in line with police
regulations.
The Commander of Anambra SARS, Supol
James Nwafor disclosed to Sunday Sun that his men were able to recover the Lexus
SUV snatched from Ohizu and operational weapons of the gang. He also said that
other members who escaped would be tracked down. Meanwhile, two members of the
gang, Ekene Uche Ohanusi and Benjamin Obinwanne, are cooling their heels in
custody and helping the police with their investigations.
[Sunnews]
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