The Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), has apprehended a seven-man robbery gang spearheaded by a woman, Chioma Ezekwesiri, in Lagos, south-west, Nigeria.
The suspects, 41-year-old Amadi Igwe, 24-year-old Raymond Chukwuka, 27-year-old Ignatius Okeredi, 52-year-old Michael Madu, 52, and 28-year-old Okechukwu Jerome, and Chioma were arrested while trying to rob Bolatito Hotel, located at Kola bus stop,in Ijaiye area of Lagos.
According to Ezekwesiri, she had arranged for the guns with Raymond Chukwuka which they were supposed to use for the operation, which she insisted was a land matter, whereas the police said their mission was allegedly to rob a male customer of the hotel who also sells fertilizer of N8 million.
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.
The suspected seven-man robbery gang, including Chioma, their leader
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.
