Two former despatch riders with an online trading platform, Sule Abdulkareem and Celestine Joseph, who the police in Lagos arrested for alleged robbery, have said they went into crime to raise enough money to start up a business.
Operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Lagos State Police Command arrested Abdulkareem and Joseph allegedly as they were attempting to snatch one Uber car from the driver at the Anthony area of the state.
The police said the suspects confessed in their statements that they did attempt to rob the driver of his car with a view to using the vehicle as a collateral for a loan to start up a business.
But the Uber driver was said to have sensed danger and driven to a point where SARS intercepted the suspects.
“We were looking for a deserted place to carry out the operation when policemen intercepted us. We had wanted to rob the driver of the vehicle at Anthony bus stop but the driver did not stop,” the suspects said.
The police said Abdulkareem stated: “My friend (Celestine) needed N1.6 million to start up a business and we looked everywhere for loan but there was nobody to give us.
“It was while we were looking for a loan that somebody told us that we would need a collateral to get a loan. We had wanted to use that Toyota Corolla as our collateral to get the money, but unfortunately we were unable to rob the driver of his car.
“I met Celestine when we were both despatch riders at Jumia. We were very close then. I left because the company was making illegal deductions from my salary even after I had paid fully for the motorcycle that was given to me.
“After my friend left, he told me that he wanted to start up a restaurant and bar business on the Island and that he needed N1.6m for the business. We both agreed to rob the driver. It was an unfortunate incident.”
Joseph was also alleged to have confessed, “The gun that was recovered from us belongs to one of our friends. He is no more in Lagos. We were using it to protect ourselves from hoodlums in Apapa when we were working there.
“I ordered for the Uber vehicle to pick us from Keffi in Obalande to Maryland. We planned to snatch the vehicle from him before he would get to Maryland. We wanted to stop him at Anthony bus stop but he refused. Maybe he was afraid that the place was deserted. When he did not stop, we decided not to rob him again. But we were later arrested by policemen who recovered our pistol from us.”
The Lago State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, speaking on the arrest of the suspects, reiterated the Command’s commitment to curb crime in the state.
