Post Graduate Degree holder caught in Armed Robbery in Lagos

Nigeria is a country where minimum wage is N18,000 but political office holders are earning millions, stealing the billions meant for development and President Goodluck Jonathan openly say stealing is not corruption. The fact is that people are graduating every day, no jobs for them and no social security. There is no hope!

Two of the men arrested by the Lagos State Police Command for snatching cars at gunpoint in the Igando area of Lagos have identified themselves as a graduate of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State and a Postgraduate Diploma holder from the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

The first suspect, Ifeoluwa Coker, said he was a student of Biology Education in FUTA, the second, John Odu, said he bagged a Postgraduate Diploma in Management Sciences from UNIPORT in 2001.

Punch had reported on Monday, July 14, that some suspects were arrested by operatives of the command’s Special Anti-Robbery Squad for snatching exotic cars and reselling them to unsuspecting Nigerians in Igando.

It was learnt that after the police had arrested one Ismaila Kareem, who is said to be the gang leader, Kareem confessed to the police that he had sold a stolen Toyota Camry to Odu for N290,000.

Odu, 39, from Ahoada, Rivers State, when arrested by the police, had confessed that he resold the vehicle to a friend, Promise Nwoke, for N400,000.

When asked why he ventured into buying snatched cars from the gang, Odu lamented that he needed to make ends meet.

He said, “I had relocated to Lagos from Port Harcourt after I was laid off from work. I was previously working with a construction company in Rivers State before most of the workers were laid off. I came to Lagos and I needed to make ends meet. I knew the cars Kareem were selling to me were stolen. He had only sold two cars to me.”

On his part, 28-year-old Coker denied any knowledge that the vehicle he received from Kareem was a stolen vehicle, adding that his friend Desmond had simply sent him to receive the car on his behalf.

He said, “I do not know Desmond has been buying stolen cars. We were living together and he has been a good guardian to me since I gained admission into the university. He sent me to receive the Toyota Camry for him. I do not know anything about the robbery.