Friday 31 March 2017

RRS Nabs Robbers Who Shot Policeman

The operatives of Rapid Response Squad of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested four suspects who specialise in tricking sellers of expensive mobile phones pretending to be online buyers and thereafter rob the sellers at the point of delivery.

The suspects, Wilfred Ehis, 30; Bright Eloho, 24, Emeka Egbemedu, 22 and Olanrewaju Kamilu, 33, were arrested on Wednesday evening in Olamulti Hotel, New Site, Iba, Ojo, Lagos.

The RRS operatives, working on reports from victims of the same robbery perpetrated by the gang, had tracked Ehis and his gang to a location in Iba. On March 7, 2017, the gang shot one Sgt. Garba Kadiri while trying to evade arrest in Pretty Street, Iyana School, LASU-Iyana Road.

According to Ehis, a Chemical Engineering graduate of University of Benin, Benin, Edo State, “What I do is shop online for expensive phones and goods. I request the sellers to make home delivery. I would send the delivery address to the seller, when the seller gets to the address, he would call me and I would control my boys to go to the delivery address and rob the seller.”

He stressed, “That is my role. I shop online, send the delivery address to the seller and make sure he is at the delivery address, then control the boys to collect the ordered items from him. I don’t follow them to the robbery scene. It is only Nurudeen, alias “Onyeabo” that I know carry out the execution. I know he has a locally made short-gun and I am aware he had recruited other boys to join him in the robbery….

“All I do is stay in hotels. I don’t even go out at all. I am always indoor. They do the robbery, sell the phones and give me my own share of the deal. Nurudeen is always in hiding. He doesn’t come outside since SARS, Lagos picked up his closest friend last year. He is short in size and he sneaks into Lagos mostly at night through the creeks from Ogun State,” he disclosed.

Sources stated that Ehis has several gangs who do his runs for him. The source added that he was into internet fraud and ATM point robbery. The source added that, Ehis before his arrest stood at different ATM points in Igando, Ojo, Alaba and Apapa to monitor ATM users, who withdrew money. From there he controlled his gangs who operate on mostly motorcycles (okada) to trail the withdrawers and collect the money from them.

After his arrest, about five victims from Computer Village in Ikeja have besieged RRS headquarters to give information about the operation of the gang.

Two of such victims who came forward on Thursday were Oluwaseyi Sunday and Alabede Habib. Both of them in separate statement stated that Wilfred Ehis, pretending as Barrister Deji, had sometime in February 2017 requested that expensive phones be delivered to him on two different addresses on LASU-Iyana Iba Expressway. The victims were later robbed by three of Ehis’s gang members operating on motor cycle at the delivery points. The sellers claimed they lost N800,000:00 and N450,000:00 in the robbery.


Items recovered from Ehis when he was arrested were a Tecno CQ phone, an LG 3 Phone; One I mobile phone; 2 Wrist watches, a Canon camera Eo87D; 1 neck lace, 1 Sony laptop, a rap of Indian Hemp and an ash colour Altima salon car with the registration No. APP 493 EH.

Sunday 26 March 2017

Unemployment Made Me Impersonate Lagos Land Use Officer - Suspect

Olaitan Shofolahan, 37, a man arrested by the operatives of Rapid Response Squad of the Lagos State Police Command for impersonating officials of the Lagos State Land Use Charge has blamed unemployment as the cause of his action.

Shofolahan, an Accounting graduate of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, Ogun State, was arrested on Thursday in Lekki Phase 1, in Eti-Osa Local Government Area of Lagos. He was arrested while attempting to defraud a resident of the posh estate of several millions Land Use Charge dues.

The suspect, who was working in his brother’s audit firm in Sabo, Yaba area of Lagos, before abandoning the job in search of better offer. He stated that his moves to join the Lagos State Public Service were frustrated by lack of vacancy.

According to the suspect, “I was working with my brother in his audit firm in Sabo, Yaba, earning N45,000 monthly salary before I left the firm in search of employment…. I was at Lagos State Civil Service Commission several times to seek employment. It was during one of my visits that I learnt that payment for Land Use Charge in the state is through a code. The code is engraved on every metal sticker issued to every house.”

“It is with this code that you get an annual bill of the house and that you can get your charges printed out for you free with the bills. That was how I started moving round choice location to get their code and print their bills…. Any house that does not owe, I discard but those with huge bills, I work on them. But I noticed that some of them requested for my id–card. I forged a Lagos State Government identity card using a sample that I saw somewhere in Alausa Secretariat, Ikeja,” he stated.

He added, “I have being in the business since February, 2015. I have observed that owners of buildings in Lekki have capacity to settle their bills quickly, that was why I have focused there. Unfortunately for me, it was this location that I was caught…. I entered the building in Lekki Phase 1, unknown to me that the officials of the Lagos State Land Use Charge were there with the house owner. I saw the owner discussing with them but I didn’t know their identity. The owner of the building after sitting me down, invited RRS officials to arrest me.”

Shofolahan explained further; “since I have been impersonating, I have only realised N30,000 which I collected from an home owner in Alausa while pretending to be an official of the State. I have not collected any other money apart from that. Each and every time I visited these buildings, they ask me to come back later”.

Found with the suspect after his arrest were five land use bills with varied charges above N1 million and a forged identity card of The Lagos State Government.

Confirming the incident, the Police PPRO, ASP Olarinde Famous Cole, said that there would be no hiding place for criminals in Lagos State adding that officers of the command are at alert to nip crime in the bud.

The suspect has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba, for further investigations.

Friday 24 March 2017

Suicide: RRS Stops Textile Dealer From Jumping Into Lagoon

Shortly after the report of Mrs. Abigael Ogunyinka who was rescued by fishermen in Lagos Lagoon early Friday morning, another woman was today prevented at about 11:25 a.m. from leaping into the Lagoon by the operatives of the Rapid Response Squad of the Lagos state Police Command.

The lady, Taiwo Momoh, 58, a textile dealer in Lagos Island, had put off her shoes and was wrapping her dress around her when men of RRS 226 prevented her from jumping.

The lady, who lives in Lekki Lagos, disclosed that she was pushed to committing suicide in order to put an end to her constant sleeplessness and shame occasioned by her indebtedness to three Swiss textile dealers.

She noted that her problem started sometimes in 2015, when a Bureau De Change dealer carted away her N18.7 million she wanted to change to pay her foreign creditors.

She added that the creditors had given her Swiss textiles worth several millions of naira, noting that she has maintained good relationship with the creditors for more than 15 years.

Her condition she said became compounded when robbers invaded her shop in Lagos Island carting away most of the textiles that was left with her.

She emphasized that most of the time, she has been having sleepless nights and seeing the ghosts of the creditors whenever she was alone.

Momoh, a member of the Redeemed Christian Church of God disclosed that on several occasions she had attempted to see her Parish Pastor to identify with her problem and for the church to help her raise money to meet her Swiss Creditors in order to assure them that she would pay their money.

She noted that she was only allowed to see the second in command, which has yielded no fruits.

“Added to all these, my first son, whom I felt would stand by me and console me abandoned me. By the time I’m gone, maybe he would come around and inherit what is left.

I don’t want to use my debt and death to disturb anybody. I was in the shop this morning. I have looked everywhere and estimated what is there.

I think, with my house, a bungalow, those I am leaving behind can still live comfortably. I want to go and meet God. This world is empty”, she stated.

“I won’t because I want to get rich join cult group. I go my way and I don’t socialize unnecessarily,” she concluded.

She added, “I was a Muslim, I have because of this problem been jumping from one faith to the other. The problem is too much for me to bear. I want to go back to God.


That is why I have dressed very simple. I am ready to meet HIM. If He cannot address my problem on earth, let me go back to Him.”

Thursday 23 March 2017

Lagos CP, Owoseni Assures Lagosians Of Public Safety

Lagos CP, Owoseni Assures Lagosians Of Public Safety

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni has reassured Lagosians the commands’ commitment to public safety in the State.

This was in response to fear which erupted from the Lagos American Consulate after a strange bag was detected within its premises today. The Lagos State Police anti-bomb Squad on alert rushed to the scene but found out the bag contained medical emergency items.


Owoseni however implored the people to always be mindful of their environment and report  any suspicious movement of persons or group and unaccompanied bags to the police.

Man Survives Hit And Run Accident

The Operatives of Rapid Response Squad bikers early this morning rescued a man involved in a hit and run accident around Ile Zik inward Old Abeokuta-Agege Expressway.

The unidentified man, who was hit while crossing the road, went into coma before he regained consciousness. The victim had a fractured right arm.
 

The officers later alerted the Lagos State Ambulance Emergency Services (LASAMBUS), who later took the man away for further treatment after stabilising.

Monday 20 March 2017

RRS Nabs Bank Fraud Syndicate

The operatives of Rapid Response Squad of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested the suspected ring-leader and architect of several bank frauds in Lagos State.

The suspected fraudster, Ajisafe Olugbenga, 47, from Osun State, was allegedly the mastermind who has been fingered in several bank frauds.

Ajisafe, an ex-banker, who is popularly known as Harrison among his gang, was arrested on Tuesday after he was mentioned as the initiator of sims swap deal at a network provider’s outlet in Surulere, Lagos, and Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Ajisafe had before his arrest on Tuesday being on the run over his involvement in a N2 million fraud in one of the old generation banks in Lagos State sometime in April, 2016.

The suspect, who is regarded as the chief distributor of roles in all the bank frauds, was alleged to have a vast network with insiders in the banks.

Ajisafe was also alleged to have exploited his vast network with insiders in the banks to procure bank details of high net worth customers. It is this information such as account balance, account number and phone number of the owner and e-mail that the gang work on to perpetrate the fraud.

According to sources, the gang blocks or swaps the sim of the bank customer so that he or she does not receive the transaction on the account, which were mostly perpetrated on a weekend when the money were withdrawn in tranches.

Before this, the bank insider, who has his or her cut on every transaction, would have helped the gang to increase the customer’s withdrawal limit.

Sources disclosed that when the suspected fraudsters were arrested, several print outs of customers details were found with group. It was further revealed that the balances on all the print outs was over N800 million.

Those arrested for prosecution in that case included Michael Adeoye, Ayo Olalekan, Israel Ochenehi, Adegbenro Opeyemi, Obong Udeme-Obot and  Peter Ezurike.

The fraud detection last year had instigated the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni to convoke a meeting of bank executives with analysis of strategies adopted by the fraudsters.

It was further disclosed that Mr. Owoseni had urged banks in Lagos State to raise the bar of their anti-fraud internal mechanism.

Ajisafe latest offence was the recruitment of three suspects through which some sim cards belonging to a particular network (name withheld) were being swapped and used for some of the gangs’ bank fraud.

Two of the suspects recruited by Ajisafe for the sim swap; Shamsudeen Olalekan, 35 and Nicholas Egbele, were arrested few days before Ajisafe was picked up on Tuesday.

Also arrested with them was a staff of a popular network provider in an outlet in Abeokuta who has been assisting the gang in sim swapping while another collaborator is said to be on the run.

Olalekan and Egbede had disclosed that they were promised N20,000 for every sim card swapped for the gang.

They also disclosed to the police that Ajisafe upon supplying him their passport photographs procured national ID cards, with names of bank’s account holder. This is to be accompanied with sworn affidavit on loss of sim card.

Sources revealed that several details of bank customers sent via sms to Ajisafe’s line by some people believed to be banks’ insiders have been retrieved from his phone.

Ajisafe in a statement to the police said, “About year ago, Joe Calabar approached me that he needed someone in … Bank to increase limit (daily), I spoke to a friend Chima, who was in … Bank. Both of us met Israel at a joint in Skakhor…. The following day, we were all to meet to give a form to Chima. I noticed that too many calls were coming on my line, so I didn’t turn up for the meeting. It was later that I heard RRS has arrested Chima.”

Confirming the incident, the Police PPRO, ASP Olarinde Famous Cole, said that there would be no hiding place for criminals in Lagos State adding that officers of the command are at alert to nip crime in the bud.


The four suspects have been transferred to the SCID, Panti for further investigations.

Sunday 12 March 2017

RRS Nabs Notorious Conference, Seminar Thief

*** "I TARGET PARTICIPANTS..." – SUSPECT
*** "I BOUGHT COMPUTERS FOR N1.1M" - BUYER

The operatives of Rapid Response Squad of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested a man who specialised in stealing laptops and properties of conference and seminar participants in Lagos State.


The suspect, Ikemefuna Aje, 47, was arrested on Wednesday afternoon by the operatives after he had gate-crashed into a seminar organised for internet brand managers at a popular hotel in GRA, Ikeja, Lagos. He made away with 5 MacBooks, one HP computer and some assorted personal effects of the workshop participants.

Ikemufuna, captured in the CCTV camera around the venue of the event, drove into the venue, before heading straight into seminar precisely when the participants were having launch in another room.

The suspect, who was corporately dressed, wore the tag of seminar participants before making away with the items.

He had after stealing the said items, took them to Computer Village, Ikeja, and sold 5 Mac Books and one HP computer to one Saliu Ibraheem for N1,110,000:00.

RRS operatives in tracking the suspect traced him to 5, Tony Street, Ejigbo, Lagos where he was hosting about 34 other church members in a house-fellowship.

Recovered from his house after the arrest were a 4Runner Toyota car, with the registration No. KRD 701 DC, driven into the venue by the suspect, a master key, Zinox laptop, several computer bags, computer and tablet accessories as well as seminar materials and a sum of N700, 000:00.

According to one the representatives the seminar organiser, who did not want her name in print, “we were shocked see participants bringing up issues of missing laptops and computer accessories after returning from lunch.

The seminar was not advertised online neither in any national newspapers. How did this suspect get to know of the event and managed to come at the exact time participants about a hundred participants were having launch?”

According to sources, Ikemefuna had several scouts who furnish him with information on conferences and seminars where he went to steal laptops and properties of the participants.

The suspect was quoted to have said that the seminar was one of the many others where he had gate-crashed before stealthily making away with several laptops, mobile phones and computer accessories of participants.

The suspect, after initially denying the crime, confessed when he was shown copy of the CCTV footages before leading the operatives to Computer Village to arrest the buyer.

According to the buyer of the stolen items at the Computer Village, Ikeja, Saliu Ibraheem, “I have known Ikemefuna for more than seven years. He brought 5 Mac Books and one HP to my shop that he bought them in South Africa…. I bought the 5 Mac Books and a HP laptop computer for N1, 110,000 and I resold it immediately for N1, 250,000:00. The money was transferred into my account immediately.”

As at yesterday, the operatives had recovered all the laptops allegedly stolen by the suspect at the seminar.

Confirming the incident, the Police PPRO, ASP Olarinde Famous Cole, said that there would be no hiding place for criminals in Lagos State, adding that officers of the command are at alert to nip crime in the bud.


The suspect has been transferred to the SCID, Panti, Yaba for further investigation and prosecution.

Sunday 5 March 2017

RRS Arrests Three Fleeing Kidnappers

The operatives of Rapid Response Squad of the Lagos State Police Command over the weekend arrested three suspected kidnappers fleeing from Ibadan in Lagos after collecting N3 million ransom.

The kidnappers, Adekunle Funsho (31), Charles Ezeilo (32) and Obioha Nnaji were apprehended in Abule Egba Lagos after kidnapping a lady and collecting N3 million ransom.

The kidnappers had after collecting the ransom fled to Lagos. The police in Ibadan after discovering that the kidnappers were heading to Lagos with the victim’s Toyota Highlander had radioed Lagos for assistance.

RRS officials on receiving the radio signal tracked the vehicle to Fela Shrine in Ikeja, from where the alleged suspects further moved the vehicle to a compound somewhere Abule Egba, Lagos.

It was there that the officers arrested a suspect before recovering the Toyota Highlander 2005 model with the registration number LND 954 EE.

The first suspect assisted the police in the arrest of another suspect who was later apprehended in Fela's Shrine in Ikeja while another suspect simply identified as Theophilus is on the run.

According to one of the suspects, Adekunle Funsho, a fashion designer around Felele, Ibadan, where it was believed the kidnapping took place, “Theophilus handed over the car to me in Ibadan and told me to look for a buyer for the car…. I brought the car to Lagos because I know that I would get a buyer quickly for the car. The instruction from him was that I sell the Highlander at N800, 000:00.

He stated further, “I got a buyer In Ondo State. He has bought a car from me before, a fairly clean Toyota Corolla. He bought it N550,000:00. I took the car to him on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, where he paid me before moving the car away…. Charles is my friend of over 5 years. We met at Redeemed Church, Ogba, where I was a chorister. I gave him the car to help me warehouse it for me to get a buyer. He took the car from me at Fela Shrine to his house in Abule Egba.”

The case has been taken up by Anti-kidnapping team, Oyo State Police Command, for further investigations.