By Ifeanyi Okolie

CUPID arrow, the proverbial angel of love manifested in its fullest recently in Lagos State. Unfortunately, it turned against its victim who happens to be a notorious armed robber.  Just like a fairy tale, the victim, later identified as Ratty Bassey, had gone to rob the home of a Lagos based lawyer (names withheld) at Lamgbasa area of Ajah, Lagos State early January.

Ratty and his gang of heavily armed robbers laid ambush for their victim only for him to notice that one of them was about to rape the beautiful house-maid to the lawyer identified as Comfort Uwawa. Ratty claimed later that he was immediately struck by the cupid arrow and he pounced on his partner in crime and stopped him from carrying out the rape.

He did not stop at that, he boldly told the girl that he was in love with her and went ahead to retrieve her phone that was forcefully taken by his colleague after which he also exchanged numbers with her, asked her pay packet and even promised to get her a better job when they meet later.

In spite of this, Ratty and his gang members still carried out the raid on the house as soon as the lawyer came back before disappearing from the scene.

Meanwhile, moments after they raided the house, operatives of the State Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, arrived the scene and took over investigations into the incident. They arrested both the house maid, the security guard and a younger brother to the lawyer. Unfortunately, they were thrown into confusion following the uncertainty surrounding the case.

They became more confused as they could not pin the crime on the three detained suspects. At a time, the operatives tinkered with the idea of releasing the suspects believing that the incident may have gone down like other unsolved robbery cases. One of the operatives told Crime Alert that some of them insisted that they should tarry awhile when pressure became too much based on the fact that the suspects had spent a couple of days in cell.

...the suspects

“Some of us were optimistic that something helpful could still come up in the investigation and  we begged for more time.
“While this was on, the mobile phone of the house maid started ringing. We allowed her take the call and to our surprise, the caller was the leader of the robbery gang who rescued her when she was about being raped by their member during the operation.

“She was then asked to play along with the caller. After some few days of lovely conversations, the caller was then traced to an address in Abule-Egba area of the State, where Ratty and his family resides.

Exploring possible angles

Operatives swiftly swooped on him and they apprehended him in company of his wife. His arrest also led to the arrest of seven other members of the gang which includes two dismissed police officers.

“We actually kept their phone lines open because we were still exploring all possible angles towards making a head way in the case. And while her phone rang and the caller identified himself as the leader of the gang that robbed her boss lawyer, I and others investigating the case became upbeat that the game was up for the gang. The most amusing aspect of the issue remains the reason why he called back the girl.”

When Crime Alert met with the suspects at the State Police Headquarters, Ikeja, they regretted their involvement in the crime and pleaded for pardon. It was also established that the lawyer’s security guard identified as Adamu Garuba, invited the robbers to his boss’s house. The guard told Crime Alert that he brought the robbers because his boss refused to allow him travel to the village to see his wife who just put to bed.

He said: “My wife was delivered of a baby and I told my boss that I wanted to travel to the village and see her and the child, but he refused claiming if I leave I wont return to him again. I pleaded that I will return and that all I needed was just two weeks off, but he refused.

“He even went ahead to get me arrested by the police. Two policemen came to my room and searched it but when they couldn’t get anything, they left, yet my boss would not let me go. I later narrated my plight to my friend, Razaaq who assured that he would help me out of the situation. I asked how he could do that, he told me that he knew a police officer who could help me out in the case, and then I gave him the nod to go ahead.

“On Monday 2, January, 2010, I saw Razaaq and some other persons and they told me that today was the day. I told them that my boss wasn’t around but they decided to wait inside for him to return. I don’t know what they did inside, but when my boss returned, they took me inside the house and asked me to lie down flat while they robbed all valuables in the house including television sets, gold wrist watches, expensive Jewelries and my boss car. I didn’t get anything from them.”

While speaking with Crime Alert, the love- struck Ratty admitted that he was in love with the house maid, whom he described as “a pretty woman I would love to have fun with.

“While we were inside the house waiting for the lawyer to come in, that was after we had tied everyone in the house excluding the security guard because he was the one who would open the gate for the lawyer to come in, I learnt that one of my colleagues was about raping her and I moved in and saved her. I asked him to let go of her and when he did, she told me she was grateful and she prayed that her spirit will follow me wherever I go.

“Then I felt some love for her and wished I could have her for a mistress. I went close to her and asked of her name, she told me and I asked her how much she was being paid, she told me, and then I promised to get her a profitable job. I asked her of her numbers and she told me that her phone has been taken by my colleague who wanted to rape her. I took it back from him and gave it to her. But before I did that, I dialed my number on her phone and it rang on mine, then I saved her number.

“On my way out of the house, I called her number to tell her how much I loved her but she was not taking her call. Three days later, I called her again, this time, she picked the call after it rang for a few times and she asked who it was, I told her it was me, the guy who robbed her boss.

“From that instant, her voice changed and she became sober and asked me why we did that? I told her that some one sent us to her boss and that we didn’t do that out of hate because we didn’t even know him before. So, I quickly changed the subject to tell her how much I love her and she also said she liked me too and I asked her how we could meet. She couldn’t give a good reply.

“After some few days, I got a call from her line at night and she sounded quite urgent and said she would like to see me. Then I suspected foul play and threatened to kill her if she speaks with the police. While I was saying that, my wife heard my voice and asked me what was happening and I told her nothing. But when we were about going to bed, I heard a loud bang on the entrance door to our house.

“Then I knew something was up. I told my wife to go to the door and tell any one that asked after me that I wasn’t home.  But when the officers came to my door, they knocked and when she confronted them, they asked her about me, she told them I wasn’t in but they ignored her and pushed their way in.

They came straight to where I was hiding and picked me out of the house, and shot straight at my leg. They later asked me of my gun, I told them I had none that I was innocent and they went back into my apartment searched it and later found the gun. And they took me away. While in their cell I confessed to the crime  and named every one involved.”