Two suspects, Chibuzor Anene and Ismaila Odofin, were paraded on Monday before journalists at the Lagos State Police Public Relations office, Ikeja, for alleged kidnapping and theft respectively.
Anene, 26 and two others still at large, had on March 14, 2011, allegedly robbed a taxi driver, Tunde Abiodun, of his car at Cele Express, Ejigbo, after pretending to be passengers.
After robbing the man, Anene, an Ice-cream vendor, said out of pity, he gave Abiodun N200 for transport fare, adding that he and his friends lodged at Uncle B Hotel, Ejigbo, after the robbery.
Two days later, Anene and the two other members of his gang identified simply as Izu and Emma (still at large), decided to use the stolen vehicle to kidnap an eight-year-old child; Chibueze Ezekwe, when he was returning from school.
However, someone suspected their movement and raised the alarm. The suspects took to their heels and abandoned the child in the car at the Ile-Epo Bus Stop, Ejigbo.
While two members of the gang escaped, Anene was apprehended by residents of the area and handed over to the police.
Anene, who claimed that that was his first operation, accused the leader of the gang, Azu, of forcing him to take part in the robbery and kidnap.
In another incident, Odofin, 28, a mechanic, said he took to robbery because his job was not financially rewarding.
Odofin, who listed other members of the gang as Abbey, Saheed, Wasiu and Sunday, said their modus operandi was to either pick pockets of pedestrians or rob them of their phones and other valuables.
According to him, on a good day, they made about N15,000, adding that he had engaged in armed robbery “only five times” and was not the leader of the gang.
On March 25, at about 2pm, Odofin and four other members of his gang robbed a trader of her phones, money and other valuables with a locally-made pistol at her shop, located at Jakande. The policeman ran after them and arrested odofin while others escaped
The woman raised the alarm, which attracted a policeman guarding a nearby bank. The policeman ran after them and arrested Odofin while others fled.
The spokesman for the Lagos State Police Command, Mr. Samuel Jinadu, said that the arrests were an indication that the police in the state were ready to curb crime and maintain law and order.
He said, “The Lagos State Command has intensified security by carrying out a series of stop and search exercises and these patrols have yielded good results; many criminals have been arrested and arms and ammunition have been retrieved.
“In February alone, we recovered a sizeable number of arms and about 595 ammunition. All these have been done to show effective policing and ensuring free and fair elections in April.”
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