Detectives attached to the Lagos State
Police Command have arrested two brothers for using their mother’s car
to rob unsuspecting ladies on Lagos Island.
According to the
state Commissioner Police, Fatai Owoseni, the brothers, Ikenna Onunkwo
(28) and Chinedu Onukwo (23), every morning use to dress up and leave
their home as if they are going to the office.
Nobody knew they
used to go out each morning to rob. It was gathered that in the evening,
after office hours, the brothers, still using their mother’s Sport
Utility Vehicle (SUV), would offer to give female passengers at bus
stops lift. They would later rob them of their valuables before pushing
them out of the car.
He said: “Luck ran out on the two brothers
after robbing a lady on November 13, on their way from Lagos Island. The
lady was able to get the registration number of the vehicle. “She
reported the incident to the Bar Beach Police Station.
Through
the assistance of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), the vehicle
was traced to a mechanic workshop at Surulere area of the metropolis.”
One of the suspects, Ikenna, the elder, vehemently denied that he and
his brother were robbers.
He said: “My brother and I studied at
the Pan American University in Cotonou. I went to school to defend my
project only for me to receive a phone call from my younger sister in
Nigeria that my mother and brother had been arrested for using her jeep
to rob. I was urged to return home and come to the police station
or my mum would remain in police custody. “I rushed down to Nigeria and
went straight to the station, only for two ladies to appear and pointed
at me and my brother.
They claimed that we were two men that
robbed them of their valuables. We were wrongly accused. We don’t know
anything about this crime. My brother and I are innocent.”
Recalling
how he was arrested, Chinedu said: “Some detectives came to our house
to say that my elder brother was involved in armed robbery. My mother
and I were taken to their station.
“When my mother and I got to
the station, the ladies who identified my brother as the person who
robbed them also accused me of being among the robbers. I denied ever
being involved in any robbery operation.
The vehicle actually
belongs to my mother. I don’t drive the jeep. It’s only my elder brother
who drives the car.” Owoseni said the suspects would be charged after
investigation.
He added: “The general public should learn how to
report any complaint to the nearest police station. People should stop
reporting crime on the Facebook.”