Delta Police smash notorious jewelry robbery syndicates
DELTA State Police command has arrested four suspects, who specialise in robbing jewelry shops in Warri and its environs.

The suspected criminals were arrested following painstaking intelligence carried out by the state Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS), led by Ademola Adebayo, a Chief Superintendent of Police.

Although two of the suspects are still on the run, one of the kingpins, Victory Ogwu, 19-year-old from Anambra State, who claim to have joined the gang for economic reasons, narrated how he participated in the robbery.

According to him, “I was at the drinking joint that evening when one of my friends came to persuade me to join them in an operation.

They did not tell me it would be a robbery operation in a jewelry shop. I thought it was just stealing. When we got there and they brought out the guns, I could not go back, I had to join in the robbery because I needed money to enrol in a Marine Engineering training centre at Gbesu market area in Warri.

“I was charged N120,000 for the training and I needed the money badly.

Although my guys did not tell me how much would be my share from the operation, they just assured me that the money would be very huge.

“We robbed the gold shop at Udu area of Warri successfully that night and we were in the process of selling it when the police came after us. I was arrested at my residence at Igbudu, Warri. My roommate was shocked when they came for me; he never knew I was a robber. Arthur and Fejiro, who lured me into this, had run away. They have all left Warri now and I am left alone to suffer in police custody.”

Another suspect, Tony Okon, 21-year-old from Akwa Ibom State, was at the scene of the robbery that night. Warri gold merchant, Isa Abubakar and one of his brothers were said to be the receiver of the stolen jewelries. He is helping the police in their investigation to trail the other suspects.

The Commissioner of Police, Delta State command, Alhaji Alkali Baba Usman, noted that the suspects would soon be charged to court.

“Our anti-crime network has been yielding results. We are also closing in on the suspected killers of the Ubulu Uku monarch, who was kidnapped by gunmen and killed eventually. We would parade the suspects as soon as we conclude our investigation,”Usman said.