SECURITY ALERT WITH JIDE

I Use My Okada To Carry Robbers, Teenager Confesses.

I use my Okada to carry armed robbers to operations.” This is the confession of 17-year old Sunday Oluwole, a robbery suspect arrested with his accomplice, Segun Akomolafe, 23 at Abule Egba, a surburb of Lagos, after a failed operation.

Narrating his story , the suspect who belongs to a gang of four operating with commercial motorcycles (Okada) to steal at Abule Egba and environs said he used to be an Okada rider before his friend introduced him to robbery.

Explaining the gang’s method of operation, the suspect said: “We always rob shops and business centres. Whenever we are going for operation, I will carry Segun with my Okada while Dare and Elijah will ride another motorcycle.

When we get to where we want to rob, I and the other rider will wait outside while Segun and Dare will enter the shop and rob. After robbing the victims, they will rush out and we will start our Okada and escape.”

On how he was caught, he said Segun wasted time in the shop they went to rob and they were caught.

Their victim, a shop owner at Abule Egba, popularly called Iya Ibeji explained that she was cleaning her shop when the suspects entered her shop and asked her to cooperate with them or she will be shot.

Immediately, she disclosed that the suspects removed her gold earrings, necklace and handset, including the money in her drawer.

The victim disclosed that after taking her belongings, the suspects made to escape but she summoned courage and grabbed one of them while her neighbours assisted her in arresting the suspect on Okada.

The others, it was learnt, escaped.

The suspects were taken to the OPC shed at Santos Street, Abule Egba before they were handed over to policemen at the Oko-Oba station.

The station’s DPO, Omole Ola, confirmed the story, saying items recovered from them include one Bajaj motorcycle with registration number QZ 237 MUS.

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Businessman arraigned for alleged theft of N30.7m.

For allegedly stealing N30.7 million, property of his associate, a businessman, Onyeka Ubabike, was on Monday charged before an Igbosere Magistrates Court, Lagos.

Ubabike, 35, is standing trial on a one-count charge of theft.

The prosecutor, Cpl. Marcus Okon, told the court that the accused between April 2009 and July 2010, allegedly obtained under false pretence 173,808 dollars (N26,071,200) and N4.7 million from one Alphonsus Okuma.

Okon said that the money was meant to purchase some goods in China for the complainant.

The accused could not transact the business on behalf of Mr Okuma and could not produce the money,’’ the prosecutor said.

Okon said that the offence contravened Section 390 (9) of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State.

The accused pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The Magistrate, Mulikat Alli-Balogun, granted the accused bail in the sum of N2 million with two sureties in like sum.

The case was adjourned till March 15 for mention.

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Ex-military man arraigned for alleged N3.5m fraud.

The police in Lagos on Monday arraigned an ex-military man, E. O. Omoregie, alleged of defrauding his victim of N3.5 million.

Omoregie, 52, is standing trial before an Igbosere Magistrates Court, Lagos, on a two-count charge of stealing and fraud.

The prosecutor, Cpl. Daniel Ighodalo, told the court that the accused allegedly committed the offence sometime in September 2009 at Okota, Lagos.

Ighodalo said that Omoregie collected the money from one Olawale Bestoyin under the false pretence of selling to him a parcel of land at Oke-Ogbere, Okota.

According to him, the offence contravenes Sections 390 and 419 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State.

The accused pleaded not guilty to the offence.

The Magistrate, Badejo Okusanya, admitted the accused to a bail in the sum of N200,000 with two sureties in like sum.

The case was adjourned till Feb. 23 for mention.

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Police arraign 11 Bank PHB employees for alleged theft.

Eleven former employees of Bank PHB were on Monday arraigned in Lagos for allegedly stealing customers deposits, totalling N75 million.

The accused are Abayomi Ajayi, 37, Abiola Arogundade, 32, Olabode Omoolofin, 20, Samuel Elem, 28, Gabriel Okehigbokie, 42, and Isaac Okpe, 29.

Others are Peter Taire, 25, Akinwale Olugbemi, 27, Kehinde Egbodofo, 34, Idowu Makanjuola, 34, and Solomon Ajuwon, 24.

They are standing trial before Chief Magistrate Philip Ojo at the Ebute Meta Chief Magistrates Court on an eight-count charge of conspiracy, altering, stealing, fraud, impersonation, unlawful possession and forgery.

The accused pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The prosecutor, Cpl. Ishaku Babaji, said that the accused at the bank’s headquarters on Victoria Island, Lagos, unlawfully obtained N75 million from various accounts of the bank’s customers between Nov. 12, 2010 and Jan. 31, 2011.

Babaji told the court that the accused transferred customers’ money into their personal accounts and later withdrew it through the Automated Teller Machines.

Arogundade and Omoolofin have in their possession three Skye Bank ATM cards, seven UBA ATM cards, two Bank PHB ATM cards, one GTBank ATM card and an Oceanic Bank ATM card.

The duo used the ATM cards to withdraw money stolen from customers’ accounts and deposited it into their various accounts,’’ the prosecutor said.

He claimed that a forged Nigerian Police identity card with No 1097 and with the name, Abayomi Ajayi, was recovered from Ajayi.

The accused also had in his possession a complete police uniform with a beret, crest and lawn yard. Two computer key loggers, a computer board, 12 GSM SIM cards of various networks.

The accused uses these items to aid the stealing of the N75 million from the bank,’’ Babaji said.

He said that the offence contravened Sections 390, 430, 467 and 516 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State and punishable with seven years imprisonment on conviction.

The chief magistrate admitted each of the accused to a bail in the sum of N500,000, with two sureties in like sum, and adjourned further hearing till March 7.

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Another 5 Perish On Ore-Benin Road.

All the five passengers and driver on board a Toyota saloon car perished during a crash yesterday as the car skidded off the road and plunged into a river along the Lagos-Benin Expressway in South-South Nigeria.

An eyewitness that the driver was trying to evade a bad spot while on top speed.

The car veered into the river not far from the same spot the Ugochukwu Onyeocha family car crashed into the river about two weeks ago and three occupants of their car died.

Correspondent was at the scene of the accident, five bodies had been recovered. They were suspected to be the corpses of four passengers travelling in the car and their driver.

As sympathisers tried to assist in the evacuation of the corpses, officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps were also on hand to ensure free flow of traffic.

The Lagos-Benin road, especially the bad spots near Ore, become a death trap where accidents have claimed several lives recently.