Seven members of a gang that allegedly specialises in robbery and kidnapping in Abia State are cooling off their heels in the custody of the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team.
The suspects, Basil Macdonald, Emeka Uche, Godwin Rafael, Uzoma Samuel, Sunday Chibuike, Godwin Kalu and Abraham Thompson, were apprehended in their various hideouts in Aba town.
City Round learnt that detectives went after them following the murder of two point of sale operators, Ezinne Iroh and Dr Victor Chimaobi, in the town. The gang reportedly killed Iroh on January 31, 2021 after robbing her of N150,000 while Chimaobi was murdered on January 21.
The assailants who operated in tricycles were also said to have killed one of their kidnap victims, Achinulo Ignatius, after collecting N2.5m ransom from his relatives. The 59-year-old man was reportedly abducted on November 1, 2020, at the Osisioma junction, along Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway.
In the wake of growing apprehension among PoS operators in the state, our correspondent gathered that the IRT operatives led by DCP Abba Kyari were deployed to track down the gang, leading to Rafael’s arrest. He was said to have led the detectives to apprehend six other members of the gang.
Rafael, 32, from Kogi State, stated that his gang was formed during the #EndSARS protest to cash in on the relaxed police patrols at the time.
The father of two said he was formerly with a robbery gang led by one Handerson, who is a member of Vikings Confraternity, to which he also belongs.
He said, “I was arrested in connection with armed robbery and murder. Henderson always had money on him and whenever I was broke, I went to him for support. On one occasion, he asked me to join his gang and I accepted. In the first operation I went with him in August 2020, he was arrested and I escaped to Imo State. I learnt he is still in prison.
“When the #EndSARS protest started, I returned to Aba and teamed up with Henderson’s other men to form a new gang. We robbed a PoS operator at a bank close Umugasi area in Aba and collected N52,000 from him. We also went away with the PoS machine. We were three that went for that operation and we used a tricycle and locally-made guns. I got N20,000 as my share.”
Rafael, a secondary school leaver, said their second operation was on Market Road by Kents in Aba, where Chimaobi was reportedly killed, adding that he shot the victim because he pushed one of his gang members, Chibuike.