The former police men nabbed for robbery
The
arrest of some police gangsters in Delta State, has left unsuspecting
members of the public wondering about the kind of friendship the Nigeria
Police Force has established with them. A 37-year-old dismissed officer of the Nigerian Police Force
identified as Kingsley Ochei, who hails from Ekuoma Community in Ika
North East Local Government Area of Delta State, and the ringleader of
the suspected criminally-minded police officers that were recently
arrested in the state, has made some shocking confession.
He had this to say when they were caught; “Since I was
dismissed from the Nigeria Police Force some years back, life became
worse for me. My family and I found it difficult feeding. I cannot pay
my siblings school fees. That was how the hard way became the only way
for me.
"My heart was troubled. So, I thought of hijacking a petroleum
truck that will fetch me good money to meet my needs. I sold the idea to
my friends, who are in service and they bought into it. That was how it
all started.”
Kingsley was the ringleader of a 5-man gang of serving policemen,
namely, Sergeants Nwankem Ebonzim ( F/No. 413318), 37, Prince Innocent
Obaseki (F/No. 441254), 45, of No. 79, Okpe Quarters, Abavo, in Ika;
Micheal Chima attached to 31 PMF, Ogwashi-Uku in Aniocha South council
area of Delta State,(F/No. 375631) Sergeant Christopher Onyegho attached
to Special Protection Unit, Base 5 Benin City, Edo, State and one
Ndubuisi Okolie, 29, also from Ekuoma, who hijacked a truck loaded with
Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), from one Ifeanyi Okeke, a 35-year-old man,
of Umuosime Village, Nkpor, Anambra State.
According to New Telegraph, the truck was heading to Onitsha in
Anambra State with the consignment, which he lifted from Oghara, Ethiope
West Council Area of the state.
On interrogation, the gang leader confessed that he was thrown out
of the Force after he committed some undisclosed acts of indiscipline.
“Life has not been the same for me. The whole thing became
worse for me. All my colleagues that I relied upon to be of help and
assistance to start up a business failed me. Since I have nothing to
fall back upon because every eye was on me as a dismissed policeman, and
I have a family to take care of. Many thoughts started crossing my
mind.
“When things are terribly rough at times, I will call on some
of my colleagues when I was in service, if they are on patrol, I will
hang on with them. If anything comes out, they will share little for me
to keep life going.”
Speaking further he said; “As I said before, frustration of
life forced me into this crime. Devil tempted and lured me into armed
robbery. I beg for forgiveness.”
He swore that his gang had not laid hand on any of their victims since they formed their gang, saying, “We don’t kill. We have not killed anybody. We only hijack trucks loaded with petroleum products.”
He added that he has always had smooth operations because of the ‘gallantry’ performance of his gang members. “With
the presence of my serving colleagues, we usually find our way to any
petrol station where a friend is and we sell the products and share the
money”, Kingsley confessed.
The kingpin, who vowed not to lie but say the truth because the
game was up, further confessed that they had successfully hijacked many
trucks and sold their products at the rate of N1.8 million, N2 million
and N3 million respectively, depending on their quantity. “We share the money among ourselves, and with my share, I am able to fend for my family.”
However, the alleged receiver of the stolen products, who runs a
petrol station at Abavo, claimed to be a benefactor to the dismissed
policeman. “Yes, he is my friend. He normally visited my station and
from time to time, I dash him money because of his pitiable condition.
In most cases, I dash him from N5,000 or N10,000 and above.
“On a particular day, he told me in confidence that he has some
products given to him, and because he is a close friend, without asking
about the source, I bought it from him. He has sold products to me for
about three times without any problems until this last one that led to
our arrest.”
Kingsley’s shocking revelation did not only indict men of the Force
on the burning issue of bribery and corruption, it confirmed the
speculation of suspecting members of the public about how policemen were
collaborating with robbers and leasing out their riffles to them for
criminal operations.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Zanna M. Ibrahim, who
expressed displeasure that his men ran down the avowed ‘Quick Response’
and ‘combat readiness’ of the command when he paraded them at the
command headquarters in Asaba, lamented that the ‘police’ bandits
ambushed the victim at Alifikede, around Agbor, the boundary between Edo
and Delta states, in Ika axis of the Big Heart State, having pretended
to be men of Anti-Vandal Team.
“They hijacked the truck, handcuffed the victim and his
conductor, pushed and abandoned them in the bush and took the truck with
the product to Abavo community in Ika South L.G.A of Delta State, sold
the product to one Prince Innocent Obaseki, the fourth suspect and later
abandoned the hijacked truck along Ute-Okpu road in Ika North East
L.G.A of Delta State.
“Fortunately, the telephone handset of the kingpin of the gang
named Kingsley Ochei, a dismissed Police Officer was recovered at the
scene. SARS men immediately swung into action and arrested Ochei. He
confessed and mentioned other five suspects listed above and
subsequently they were equally arrested”, the CP said.
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