Eboma Onyeka, a Police Sergeant who was
formerly with the Mobile Police Unit 20 Ikeja
has been arrested for being responsible for a
spate of ATM Robberies. The 41 year old man
had been prior to his arrested a member of the
police force for 19 years. Surprised? Haha, that is
not even the whole story. He had been arrested
before for robbery, with four other people and
an employee of a new generation bank on
Akowonjo, Lagos. They had allegedly attacked
the said bank and carted away about N10m. He
was arrested while riding in a Hummer SUV. A
security guard Sunday Ogundipe assigned to the
bank was strangled to death by the gang during
the operation. Two months after he was arrested,
he was dismissed from the police force and
arraigned with his fellow accomplices on armed
robbery and murder charges in July 2011.
Onyeka has refuted these 'allegations':
"After I got my bail, I left Lagos for my
village in Delta State. I stayed there for
about two, three months because I was ill
and needed to recover. When I was fully
recovered, l went to Benin City and met a
friend whom I pleaded with for assistance.
My friend gave me an Audi car to use as a
taxi, so I could earn a living. I also
underwent a 10-week course in producing
insecticides and fruit juices.
"Upon the completion of my course, I
returned to Lagos because I needed to start
a business of my own. Since there was no
place for me to go, I called a friend of mine
who is a serving police inspector and he
asked me to see him. My wife had returned
to her family with my children after I got
into prison, so I had no home in Lagos. All
this happened in August 2012. It was the
very day that I arrived Lagos that I was
arrested by SARS operatives. I still had my
toiletries on me,"
About why nothing came out of his being
remanded in police custody following his
arraignment on a criminal case, which isn't a
bailable offence:
"Although I was in touch with my lawyer
and one of his subordinates, they told me
that they would contact me if anything
came up,"
His lawyer, T.J Ajapuno also gave his two cents:
Findings indicated that Onyeka was granted
bail at an Igbosere High Court 14 in
December 2011 through a motion on bail
application notice. His lawyer, who identified
himself as T.J. Ajapuno, said, "In law,
everyone is considered innocent until
proven otherwise. Onyeka's wife came to
see me, requesting my services so that her
husband could get bail and due process was
followed. If Onyeka went ahead to start
robbing again after his bail was granted,
that is his own cup of tea. His wife and his
pastor had stood for him as sureties.
"We served the police and the State
Criminal Investigative Department at Panti
got a copy of the bail application. The
Directorate for Public Prosecution got a
copy too. I wasn't even aware that the DPP's
advice was out; I don't have the facts of the
case and the DPP doesn't even have
Onyeka's file. It is not as if the case is over,
the substantive matter is before Justice
Okunnu at the Ikeja High Court."
But the Lagos State Police Commissioner has this
to say:
"In the months following Onyeka's bail
from prison custody, we started getting
reports of bank ATM robberies nearly every
weekend. Prior to his arrest last year, there
were only two gangs responsible for bank
ATM robberies in Lagos: Onyeka's and
another gang. As at the time he went to
prison custody, the ATM robberies had
reduced to the barest minimum.
"So when reports of ATM robberies began to
come in, we decided to check with the
prison to confirm if Onyeka was still in
their custody but he wasn't. We began
investigations and we were able to obtain
his number. Through his phone number,
we were able to track his movements until
he got to Lagos and thereafter we
rearrested him. His gang was responsible
for the recent robbery of a new generation
bank where a police corporal lost his life.
"At the time of his arrest, Onyeka had in his
possession a fake identity card which
portrayed him as a serving member of the
Mobile Police Force. When SARS operatives
stormed the hotel where he was meeting
with a friend, Onyeka had flashed his card
to the team, not knowing that he was the
target of the raid."
Mind boggling story. When he was arrested,
Onyeka had an AK 47 rifle and a big bag
containing a face mask and other suspicious
items in his possession.
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN
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