[size=18pt] Robbers invade hotel, cart away customers’ cars, N450,000 • Victims recount ordeal as police recover stolen items [/size]


Victims of a recent robbery in one of the hotels located on the LASU-Isheri Road, have recounted their ordeal in the hands of the bandits.

They thanked God that the police were able to recover their stolen vehicles and other personal effects, after the robbers had fled.

Daily Sun gathered that the victims had earlier delayed checking into the hotel till late hour, to avoid attracting the attention of hoodlums, but they were wrong. Like thief in the night, the bandits still invaded the hotel, where they held the victims hostage for several minutes, before making away with their valuables.

They broke into their hotel rooms and carried out what an eyewitness referred to as successful operation, before disappearing.

Nemesis, however, caught up with them, as policemen in different parts of the metropolis were alerted. The crime fighters caught up with the hoodlums.

One of the victims, Mr. Sunny Nwokocha, is a freight forwarder at the Apapa port. He is the owner of a Honda Accord car marked, LE 818 FST, recovered from the suspected robbers. Nwokocha also had N450, 000 cash inside his car before it was stolen. According to information, it was because of his trying to avoid losing the money to bandits that he decided to sleep in the hotel, till the following morning.

“In fact, I regretted lodging in that hotel, because I was trying to avoid what happened to me last time. I was coming back from the office before I was stuck in a traffic till about 11 pm. I phoned my wife and told her it was too late for me to start coming home. So, she supported the idea, because I had N450, 000 in- side my car,” he said

He explained that he liked the hotel and never suspected anything like that to happen to customers.

He said: “Considering the money in the booth of my car, I decided to park it closer to the reception. Surprisingly, as I was sleeping in room 109, I heard a bang on the door at about 3 am.

When I woke up, I saw one of the receptionists and three other young men, pointing guns at me, asking me where the money was. I gave them the N2000 I had on me but when they threatened to kill me, I handed over the key of the car and my handsets to them. They ordered me to lie down and started torturing me. I appealed to them to stop the torture, and informed them that I am hypertensive. They marched me out of the room and used a rope to tie us (victim),” he said.

When the victims later loosed the rope , they went outside only to discover that the bandits had zoomed off in their two Toyota cars, including the money inside the booth of Nwokocha’s car. Problem, however, started for the bandits, when policemen from Igando police Division came to the scene of crime and gathered necessary information, including the particulars of the stolen vehicles. The division was said to have transmitted radio message to all the divisions in Lagos State informing them of the robbery. And as the victims were still writing their statements, information came that the stolen vehicles had been recovered by policemen from Tolu Division.

“When we received information that our stolen property had been recovered by the police, we stopped writing statements at Igando station. And I was excited when I went to Tolu station and saw my car, handsets and other things but the money was missing. Yet, I was very happy, I thank the policemen, especially, the DPOs of Igando and Tolu stations, who worked tirelessly to ensure that the robbers were arrested and the stolen property recovered,” he said.

Another victim was Mr. Wale Ogunade, a Constitutional Lawyer and human rights activist.

He lodged in the hotel, reading and preparing for examination he had the following day when the robbers struck. Ogunade narrated how he also heard a bang on the door at about 2 am, adding that when he opened it, he saw three men, pointing guns at him, asking him to cooperate with them, by surrendering all the money and other items on him.

“At 4 am, we untied ourselves and I discovered that they had stolen my Honda Accord car markedFN 926 LSR,” he said. A source revealed that policemen from Tolu Division had received information that some robbers were hiding in an uncompleted building and stormed the scene. And when the alleged robbers sighted the policemen, they fled. After combing the area, they arrested two suspects and recovered stolen items, including two motorcycles, 27 handsets, one plasma TV, three laptops and a digital camera.

One of the suspects, Adesuye, who claimed to be a bus conductor, denied any involvement in the robbery .

He said he was arrested in his house, as he was getting ready to go to work. He said: “I don’t know anything about the robbery. I’m a bus conductor.” Another suspect, Muazu, 19, also denied being an armed robber. He told Daily Sun that he was a commercial motorcyclist.

“I don’t steal, policemen arrested me, accusing me of being an armed robber, please, help me,” he lamented

Meanwhile, the State command said it was still investigating the incident.



http://odili.net/news/source/2010/oct/7/520.html

We thank God that our police are doing their jobs right.
Up Lagos!
As long as we dont later find out that the police were in on this.

Ileke-Idi,

I like your picture, it is very cute. But I prefer your sexy pics.

Wow, thanks. I like your profile pix, but I also prefer YOUR pictures.

Ok, you can address the topic, I'd like a piece of your mind on this issue.

I am happy that the police were able to recover their cars, but why would someone leave so much money in his car? lol

^^^ The explanation made no sense. . . . but here it goes

Nwokocha also had N450, 000 cash inside his car before it was stolen. According to information, it was because of his trying to avoid losing the money to bandits that he decided to sleep in the hotel, till the following morning.

Ileke-IdI:

^^^ The explanation made no sense. . . . but here it goes

Shouldn't he have taken the money with him inside the hotel? People do not think.

Lol my thought exactly.