It was like a scene straight out of a movie script, when a stranger,
later dubbed Police informant, sauntered into the office of the
operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Special Intelligence
Response Team (IRT), Lagos State Police Command, located at the Ikeja,
GRA, and gleefully announced, “I’m a robber! My gang stole the missing
truck and container, with its N147million worth of goods.”
If the
informant was trying to get the operatives’ attention, he definitely
did. Seasoned operatives, who had seen and been to hell, looked coldly
at him, with their stares almost boring holes into his face and body.The
informant squirmed in trepidation, but he had come prepared. He knew
that right then, there was no going back. For him, going back was as
difficult as going forward. He took the plunge and his words jumped,
stumbled and tumbled over each other as he tried to tell his story.
The
informant was quickly ushered into the office of Philip, a Chief
Superintendent of Police (CSP) in charge of the IRT Unit in Lagos State.
After
several minutes drilling under the unrelenting gaze of Philip, the
story came pouring out of the informant. Yes, he truly was an armed
robber. The operatives, who had seen a lot of characters in their line
of work, knew there was a catch somewhere in his story and his
willingness to surrender himself to the police.
The informant
told them he came to surrender himself to the police because he wanted
to be punished for his crimes, but he quickly added that he was not
alone in the robbery operations.
He told Philip and other
operatives that a police Inspector, identified as Mr. Asom Ubi, working
with Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), was the leader of the gang.
As
the man further revealed the gang’s modus of operandi and the sharing
formula of loots, the suspected catch in his surrendering himself, fell
into place. The puzzle was complete.
He was a robbery suspect
allegedly cheated by Ubi. Vexed at being cheated, the informant decided
to hand himself to IRT operatives, just to ensure that Ubi was also
arrested.
According to him, he felt that if he went to SARS
office at Police Command, Ubi might be allowed to go free since he was
part of the SARS’s family, thus he chose IRT.
A police source
said: “Ubi is among SARS operatives that newly joined the Lagos State
Police Command. He has only spent a month at SARS, Ikeja, before he was
posted to Onireke Police Station, after the police outpost was created.
He was drafted there, and being the most senior person there, he was
made the Station Officer (SO).”
Since Ubi started working there,
different kinds of allegations had been trailing his footsteps. One of
the allegations was that Ubi used to disappear from his duty post for
more than two weeks or more. Whenever he was about to do his vanishing
act, he goes with his rifle.
This rifle, according to a source at
Onireke Police Station, was always in his car, contrary to police rules.
Every policeman was expected to keep his rifle at the station’s armoury
when leaving for home.
In the middle of this year, a truck,
carrying 40 feet container, loaded with GNLD products was snatched. Two
weeks after this truck disappeared, the stranger walked into IRT office.
He declared that he was a robber and also had information for the
police about the missing truck.
He met Philip and further told him
that he was involved in the snatching of the truck. According to him, he
was among those that snatched it. He promised to lead operatives of IRT
to where the truck was kept.
The source disclosed: “When he was
further quizzed, he said that they were a seven-man-gang that carried
out the operation of robbing the truck driver and confiscating the
products. He added that the operation was led by a police Inspector,
attached to SARS, serving at Onireke police outpost.”
A stunned
Philip was said to have quickly dispatched his men to Onireke, where Ubi
was arrested. It was further alleged that Ubi confessed to the crime.
Acting
swiftly on the heels of the informant’s information and Ubi subsequent
arrest, Philip and his men embarked on intense investigation, leading to
police invitations being sent to the driver and conductor of the stolen
truck.
“The driver and conductor were brought for
identification. The driver identified Ubi. The driver explained that the
gang members bundled him and his conductor into the boot of a private
car and later dropped them off along Ibadan Express Way. He said that
they were robbed at night along Ikorodu road and that the gang made away
with the truck and container,” said the police source.
The
source further said: “When the container was snatched, the gang went to
Alaba International Market to sell the product. The gang also sold the
truck and container. They sold the product for N45 million, but it was
actually worth N147 million. Ubi told the police that he got N6.5
million in the deal. The informant was given just N150, 000. The
informant felt the money given to him was too small. He approached Ubi
and complained. Attempting to placate the informant, Ubi told him that
the money the gang made from the robbery was not enough, stressing that
the buyer was yet to finish payment. Not satisfied, the informant went
to complain to other members of the gang.
“Other gang members
told him that his share was actually N3 million and that it was handed
over to Ubi. He went back to Ubi, but Ubi denied, insisting that the
other gang members were lying. Angry and feeling cheated, the informant
decided to give himself up to the police just to ensure that Ubi was
arrested. So, on that fateful day, he walked into IRT office and
announced to anyone who cared to listen that he was an armed robber. He
was ready to go down and wanted to drag Ubi with him.”
Deputy
Commissioner of Police (DCP), Abba Kyari, in charge of IRT nationwide,
said that although he was aware of the arrest of Ubi, he didn’t know or
have the facts of the case.
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