Suspect who robbed octogenarian of $10,000 nabbed in Lagos

A member of a two-man robbery gang arrested by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly robbing an 81-year-old lady in her apartment has confessed to the crime.

The suspect, Segun Taiwo was apprehended after he and his ringleader, a herbalist, now at large had successfully dispossessed the octogenarian of her valuable at Oduduwa Street, Itire, Lagos .

They took $10,000, £5,000, N100,000 and a box containing assorted jewelry from their victim around 8:00p.m at the weekend.While confessing at the RRS’s headquarters, Taiwo disclosed that the herbalist, simply identified as Demola, who promised to give him 50 per cent of the loot, invited him to join the operation.“The herbalist was treating one of the woman’s daughters who had a sore on her right foot.

“When the lady visited him for treatment, he would trick her into divulging information about her mother Unknown to the lady, he had collected all necessary information needed to carry out the operation.”The suspect told detectives that the herbalist knew the exact time to strike, the description of the apartment, where the woman’s money and other valuables were kept following the information gleaned from her daughter.

“We carried out the robbery successfully. We gained entrance into the two-storey building and headed straight to the old woman’s flat. We met her sitting on her prayer mat inside the living room. We dragged and threatened her with cutlass and axe to surrender all her belongings including foreign currencies with her or else we will waste her.”

According to the suspect, the old woman cooperated with them and handed over a bag filled with both Nigeria and foreign currencies. “We also forcefully collected her gold jewellery box. However, on our way out, we overheard the woman crying for help.

“Unknown to us, RRS operatives who were patrolling the area heard her cries and as we were rushing out to escape , the operatives sighted us and chased us.
I was caught and arrested. which chase, which led to my arrest. My accomplice managed to escape with the local and foreign currencies while the jewelry box was retrieved from me.”

The suspect also disclosed that they had before now robbed a man along Okota road of his N200,000. “My gang leader is a very powerful herbalist. He knows when you have money on you. The first day I followed him to rob was a day when we went to Okota road. On getting there, he saw one man and pointed at him.

“We moved closer to the man as he recited some incantations. To my surprise, the man handed over his entire money to us. Out of the N200,000, he gave me just N11,000,” he added.While confirming the arrest, the State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Dolapo Badmos, said the command was making efforts to arrest the gang leader.