The Police in Edo State have arrested a Naval officer – Ibrahim Adamu – and a Correctional Service (prison) official, Abdullahi Abdulwahab, for alleged car snatching and armed robbery.
Spokesperson of the Edo State Police Command, SP Chidi Nwabuzor, while parading the suspects, said they were arrested in Army uniform at Ekpoma by a crack team of the Command while acting on credible information.
He said the suspects attacked the driver of an unregistered C300 Mercedes Benz car in Sapele, Delta State and snatched the car from him and also forced him to transfer N400,000 to their bank account.
The Police image maker said the suspects were arrested the Police in Ekpoma, Edo State, while taking the vehicle to one Alhaji in Abuja for sale.
“The suspects have made statements and claimed to be personnel of the Nigerian Navy and Correctional Service respectively,” Nwabuzor said, adding that the vehicle and military uniforms were recovered from the suspects.
Ibrahim Adamu, 25, who was recruited into the Nigeria Navy in 2019, admitted he was arrested for stealing Mercedes Benz C300 car in Delta State.
“I was recruited into Navy in 2019. I worked in Lokoja, Kogi State, before I was posted to Warri, Delta State. It was when I went on course in Sapele that I got the mind to steal vehicle.
“When I finish my course, Abdullahi told me that he wanted to visit me, when he came, I told him that there is work I want us to do that will bring money for us and he agreed.
“We hired a tricycle from Warri to Sapele for the operation. We saw a vehicle without number plate in Sapele, we asked him to stop, but he refused. We pursued him to a village where he finally stopped. And I told him, we are taking him to our office for driving unregistered vehicle and he pleaded that we should settle the matter there, but we refused.
“I took over the steering from him and started driving but when we got to Oghara Road, he asked how much will he offered us to settle the matter and I said N500,000, but he pleaded and transferred N400,000 to one PoS number in Abuja which we gave him, the PoS later sent the money back to us. We were driving to Abuja when police arrested us”, the suspect narrated.
His accomplice, Abdullahi, 26, a Correctional officer based in Kaduna State, said Adamu invited him to Warri for the crime, adding that it was his first involvement in robbery.