By Ifeanyi Okolie

…as Police recover N35m stolen goods, arrest 4  kingpins
When members of a notorious robbery gang stormed Adebowale wood Industry at Oregun area of Lagos State and burgled a warehouse and carted away electronics worth over N35 million; owners of the goods thought they would never recover their goods giving the  sophistication of the robbery operation at their warehouse.

But it was an irony that  as operatives at the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, in Lagos, who were on the trail of some suspected stolen- goods receivers in far away Onitsha, Anambra State, stumbled on a member of the robbery gang, identified as Chukwuma Ede, while he was trying to sell off the stolen goods, which includes plasma television sets and air conditioner units  he was subsequently arrested.

Sources at SARS intimated Crime Guard that the police nabbed Ede following information they got from one of the notorious receivers identified as Tony Eze, who they arrested in Onitsha through the aid of one of his drivers who led the police to his hideout.

The source who pleaded anonymity said while interrogating Tony whom they  suspect receives over 40 percent of  stolen goods from Lagos State and other parts of the country in Onitsha, SARS operatives learnt that he was expecting some goods from Lagos as his phone rang persistently.   He was asked to pick his calls and tell his caller to meet him at a particular location.

The suspects

The main suspect, Ede, at that time didn’t know that the police had caught up with Tony.   He joyfully raced to the spot expecting to meet Tony and exchange the goods for an agreed fee. He was then arrested and the goods were recovered from him.

They were swiftly transported back to Lagos for interrogation and in the process, Ede confessed to have taking part in the warehouse robbery and he provided information that assisted the police in arresting two others who took part in the robbery.

Crime Guard gathered the robbers who were 10 in number and fully armed with dangerous weapons, stormed the warehouse in a green trailer truck at the dead of the night.   They reportedly tied up a security guard to a stick before looting the warehouse which was filled with brand new sharp electronic products and some home appliances.

After loading the trailer truck with the stolen goods, the bandits were said to have taken a receipt from a drawer and prepared an away bill that will provide easy passage for the goods to their destination. At dawn when some staff of the warehouse resumed work, they were shocked to find their colleague tied to a stick screaming… .

He was hurriedly untied and taken to Alausa Police Station, Ikeja,  where he reported the case.   Crime Guard gathered that after they reported the case at Alausa Police Station, both the detectives and owners of the goods could not give enough information that will  assist the police in tracking down the robbers.

“ It was difficult at first when the case was newly transferred to us.   We were left in the dark because there was little information for us to work on but fortunately, some of our men traveled to Onitsha to look for Tony Eze. He works with a notorious receiver called Obinna who has received over 40 feet 100 containers; he is also wanted by the Federal Special Anti-robbery Squad ( FedSARS). We monitored Eze’s driver until he got to Benin.

“Our plan was to arrest Eze in Benin. He had asked his driver to come to Onitsha to collect money to repair his vehicle because we had earlier told Eze that the vehicle broke down around the Benin Toll gate. He wasn’t ready to come to Benin.

“So, one of our men had to dress like a mechanic with our pointer and traveled down to Onitsha where we arrested him. About 30 minutes before his arrest, we got information that one Chukwuma took the electronic products to Onitsha to go and sell and he was still there waiting to collect money before coming back. John Paul Ndubisi and Sunday Eze were later arrested in Lagos.” the source added.

While confirming the report , Lagos State Command spokeswoman, Ngozi Braide said the police is on the trail of other members of the gang. She also assured that the arrested suspects will be charged to court at the completion of investigations.