A former personnel of the Department of State Services, DSS, Prosper Israel, has been paraded alongside nine other suspected robbers by the Abia State Police force.
Parading the suspects before newsmen, the state Commissioner of Police, Janet Agbade, said the armed robbery gang was part of the 14-man robbery gang that ambushed a bullion van near the Ntigha junction of the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway on July 26, 2022. During the robbery, they killed one new generation bank cash officer on the spot, and carted away an unspecified amount of cash being conveyed by the bullion van.
CP Agbade, said their arrest was the reward of months of painstaking efforts and investigation.
”I carefully studied their modus operandi and set up a special intelligence technologically-led Investigative squad ( ITLIS) with a clear directive to arrest and recover weapons used by the deadly armed robbery gang.
Consequently, the Investigation used systematically commenced operation, applying speed and accuracy, and on different locations and days, arrested the following callous armed robbery gang” she said
The police boss further gave the names of the suspects as Adesoji Adeniyi from Ondo State; Nnamdi Nwaosu a.k.a “Prophet”; Chinwendu Israel from Abia; and Prosper Israel ( ex – DSS personnel), also from Abia.
Others were Nwachukwu Albert a.k.a White ( first amourer) from Delta State but resident in Lagos; Felix Ajaja from Ondo State; Moshood Opeyemi, from Osun State; and Matthew Christmas also from Delta. Among the suspects also were Azubuike Amaefula a.k.a Zubby from Abia; and Monday Samuel (second armourer) from Delta but resident in Ondo State.
Exhibits recovered from the suspects include one General Purpose Machine Gun ( GPMG); 13 AK 47 riffles; one cut-to-size double barrel gun with five live cartridges; 84 AK 47 magazines. Others were two improvised explosives dynamites; a Mercedes Benz mini truck used in concealing firearms; and cash of N10, 184,000.
According to the CP, the suspects during interrogation confessed that they placed the bullion van on surveillance for two months. The CP who said that efforts were on to trail three other members of the gang still at large, pleaded with members of the public to always volunteer information about suspected criminals around them.
She said that the suspects would be arraigned after further investigations.
When interrogated, the ex-DSS officer pleaded for forgiveness, saying it was the first time he would be involved in any crime.
He said he was initially serving at the Abia State Government House but was dismissed in 2007 following his late reporting to a new posting. According to him, it was his brother that gave him part of the money he got from the operation.
”My role in the operation was that I was in my house when my brother brought money and his colleagues and they shared and gave me part of it.
I asked him and he told me how they got the money. I want to plead for forgiveness because I failed to rebuke him. So, it is obvious I participated because I can’t say I did not. But it was not intentional and I want society to forgive us”he said