Mad man arrested for robbery, recovers PoS, phone

A suspected robber, Olayinka Ogundamiro, who allegedly disguised as a mentally derailed person, has been apprehended by the police.

Ogundamiro, 25, was arrested on Monday at Anifowoshe, Ikeja Along, Lagos State, with two bags containing a Tecno phone, a PoS terminal, tokens, a toy gun, a bunch of keys, a live tortoise and a laptop charger, among others.

Residents of the area became suspicious of Ogundamiro’s movements around the neighborhood and alerted the police at the MAN Centre division.

He reportedly threw away a SIM card found on him as some policemen approached the area to arrest him.

Ogundamiro was paraded on Tuesday at the state police command headquarters in Ikeja by the Commissioner of Police, Edgal Imohimi.

A policeman from the station, who was at the parade, said several calls had come into the suspect’s Techno phone, saying he was merely pretending to be mad.

 In an interview with pressmen, Ogundamiro gave his personal details and insisted that he was not insane.

He, however, spoke incoherently afterwards.

The CP, Imohimi, said operatives swooped on Ogundamiro after closely observing him, adding that his display of lunacy was concocted.

 He said, “A suspected robber who disguised around town as a mad man was caught on Monday aroud 3pm. When he was arrested and searched, the following items were recovered from him: a toy pistol, a PoS terminal, three tokens belonging to First Bank and Zenith Bank, two ID cards, a bunch of keys, a live tortoise, a Tecno phone, bangles, chains, a laptop charger and wristwatches.

“He could not give a satisfactory account of himself and why he had all the items in his possession. Investigation is ongoing and he will be charged to court.”

The CP said one Gift Munachi, a member of a syndicate, who allegedly specialised with others in printing fake documents, had been arrested.

He said the 32-year-old woman was arrested at her business centre in the Ojo area of the state, based on a credible intelligence report.

He said, “Two fake driving licences, two voter cards, one fake result from the Federal College of Education, Uyo, fake statement of degree results from the University of Science and Technology, Enugu, fake West African Senior School Certificate Examination results, fake first leaving certificates and a printer were recovered from her. Investigation is in progress.”

Imohim also paraded two suspected kidnappers, Sunday Igwe, 28, and Chukwuemeka Bright, 23, for allegedly abducting a woman, Mildred Mbajiorgu,  in the Ajah area of the state.

The suspects were said to have been apprehended by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad while escaping with the victim.

The woman was reportedly waylaid on Peace Estate, Abijo Elemoro, Ajah, on January 10, 2018, around 10pm and whisked away in a Golf car.

The CP said a Good Samaritan chased the fleeing kidnappers with a car and hit the Golf car to stop them.

“The Golf car driver lost control, resulting in a serious accident. All the occupants of the car and the victim sustained varying degrees of injury and were rushed to a hospital for treatment.

“The two gang members were arrested, while others escaped. A locally-made cut-to-size pistol used during the operation was recovered from them,” he added.

 Igwe, who confessed to the crime, said he joined the kidnapping gang in order to raise money to start business at Alaba market.

He said, “We had been trailing the woman (Mbajiorgu) for about five hours. When she was about to make a U-turn, we pounced on her and dragged her out of her car into our own and zoomed off.”

Bright said they were taking the woman into the creeks, where other members of the gang were hiding.