A seven-man robbery gang led by a woman, Chioma Ezekwesiri, has been smashed by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, in Lagos, southwest Nigeria.

The robbery suspects were arrested while attempting to rob Bolatito Hotel, Kola Bus Stop, Ijaiye, Lagos.

In chat with P.M.NEWS, Chioma said she arranged for the guns with Raymond Chukwuka, a.k.a. Stubborn, they were to use for the operation, which she claimed was a land matter, whereas the police said that their mission was allegedly to rob a male customer of the hotel, who sells fertilizer, of about N8 million.

Other suspected members of the gang are: Amadi Igwe, 41, Raymond Chukwuka, 24, Ignatius Okeredi, 27, Michael Madu, 52, and Okechukwu Jerome, 28, and a yet-to-be identified member who is at large...
The alleged robbery operation, according to the police,
was foiled by some staff of the hotel, who promptly
made a distress call to SARS operatives. The law
enforcement agents were said to have surrounded the
hotel, and later searched all its occupants. It was in
the process that two locally made guns and 12 live
ammunition were recovered from the robbery suspects.
“We received a distress call from a staff of Bolatito
Hotel, who said they suspected some people around the
hotel. The Special Anti-Robbery Squad moved in,
surrounded the place and demanded to search
everybody.
It was in the process that two guns and 12 live
ammunition were recovered in Chioma’s car. This led
to the arrest of all her gang members,” a top police
source told P.M.NEWS. Following their arrest and
conclusion of investigation, the police took them to
court. Chioma, 35, who claimed to be a Law graduate
from the University of Lagos, was remanded in prison
custody along with six other members of her gang by
Magistrate A.O. Komolafe of the Magistrates’ Court,
Ikeja. They are facing a three count charge of robbery,
conspiracy and unlawful possession of firearms.
Chioma claimed that she graduated from UNILAG in
1999, was called to the bar in 2000, and owns a Non-
Governmental Organisation, Youth of All Nations
Empowerment Association. But authorities of the
University of Lagos said she did graduate from that
institution. An officer of the school, who craved
anonymity, said Chioma cannot claim to be an
alumnus of the university if she cannot provide her
matriculation number. “The fact that she claimed to
have gone to Law School with the first batch is not
substantial enough. UNILAG usually sends
graduating students at a stretch, not in batches. My
position on the issue is that she did not graduate from
UNILAG, and so she was not our student,” the officer
said. Chioma’s claim of being called to the Bar was
also debunked by Barrister Tunji Busari of Cognate
Solicitors, who explained that “we have a directory for
all lawyers. We have all their names with the year they
were called to bar, with their NBA registration
numbers. When I checked through her name in the
directory, I could not find her name in my record
book.” When our reporter called Mr. J.E. Joshua, the
chairman of Youth of All Nations Empowerment
Association, he denied that Chioma is the founder of
the association. “She just participated in a charity
work which the association embarked on in April, and
promised to participate fully in other projects of the
NGO. But we decided to stop working with her when we
realised that she wasn’t a straight forward person.
She is not working with us,” Joshua stated. —Dedeigbo
Ayodeji & Sulaimon Mojeed-Sunni
http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2013/09/05/female-
graduate-leads-7-man-robbery-gang/

In the eyes of the law, they are still innocent until otherwise proven.