Ngozi Uwujare
When a group of armed robbers who had been on rampage in Nasarawa State in the past three months were recently arrested, the scope and magnitude of their nefarious activities were exposed by the mobile phones of victims found in their possession. The recovered devices helped police to crack some past cases that had hitherto been a riddle to security operatives in the state.
One of the cases was that of a suspect tracked down by detectives through the phones he stole during a solo robbery-and-rape operation. According to Nasarawa State Commissioner of Police, Mr Bola Longe, the suspect, Lucky Emmanuel, 40, broke into a house at No. 2 Anose, Tudun Amba, Lafia on October 31, 2019, and raped an 18-year-old who was five months pregnant. Emmanuel, who wore a mask for the operation, broke into the house while his victim was watching television and subsequently threatened her with a cutlass. After he had his way with her, he went away with the victim’s mobile phone. One week later, on November 7, SARS operatives tracked the suspect down through the phone which he had been using to make and receive calls.
Another of such cases is the kidnap and murder of Osundu Nwachukwu who was abducted from his home only for his dead body to be discovered as it was about to be abandoned in the bush days later. Today, five of the men who abducted Nwachukwu are facing multiple charges of kidnapping and murder because of victims’ mobile phones. They are cooling their heels inside police cells, where they are answering questions from the operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nasarawa State Police Command.
While the two crimes appeared unrelated, mobiles phones of victims found in the suspects’ possession indicated beyond doubt that they belonged to the same gang and had in fact perpetrated some of the serious crimes in the state in the past few months.
The case of the rapist robber
The rape victim (name withheld) spoke with Saturday Sun and recounted her ordeal. “I was in the parlour watching television. Somebody walked into the room some 20 minutes after my husband went out. The man wore a mask, so I couldn’t see his face. He threatened me with a cutlass saying he was sent to kill my husband. I started begging him. He took my phone. He ordered me to lie down. He pulled off my clothes. He raped me. Then, he went away with my phone,” she recalled. “Immediately my husband came back, we went to D Division Lafia to report the case. Police took me to the hospital for medical treatment where the doctor confirmed that my pregnancy was not affected and that I had not contracted any sexually transmitted infection (STI).”
When interviewed by Saturday Sun, the suspect, Lucky Emmanuel, did not contradict the victim’s story. Instead, he confessed his kink for raping pregnant women anytime he and his gang carried out robbery operations.
“I am into armed robbery and our gang specialized in raping pregnant women,” said the 40-year-old who claimed his wife left him two years ago and abandoned their two children for him.
Emmanuel, a farmer from Jenkwe Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, who admitted that he had raped over 10 pregnant women in their houses or in the bush, recounted his atrocity of October 3: “I went to the victim’s house to rob them. I wore a mask and I had a cutlass with me which I used to threaten her. When I got there, I realised she was pregnant. After I took her phones, I ordered her to lie down and I raped her. I used her phone to make calls before SARS operatives arrested me.”
After his arrest, his victim had no difficulty in identifying him as the man who raped her, despite his use of a mask. SARS operatives also discovered a knife, cutlasses and stick he used for operation during the search of his home, Deputy Commissioner of Police Mohammed Akeera affirmed.
The rest of the gang
When a five-man gang kidnapped John Ogbere, they took him to their den in the bush and in few days demanded and collected a ransom of N400,000 and other valuables from the victim. Unknown to them, SARS operatives were meticulously gathering intelligence about them. On November 4, 2019, the gang was busted and the victim rescued.
Phones recovered from the kidnap gang linked them to the earlier abduction and killing of Osundu Nwachukwu on October 30, 2019.
Despite his wife paying a ransom of N150, 000, 55-year-old Nwachukwu was killed by the gang and his corpse was about to be abandoned by the gang when they were intercepted by Fulani vigilante who thought they were cow thieves.
“Some of the suspects escaped. But one of them, Isaac Olu was arrested on November 4, 2019 along Akwuza Migilli Lafia/Makurdi road.”
When eventually, the gang were arrested after another kidnap operation, three phones were recovered from them. They belonged to victims of previous kidnapping, including the deceased Nwachukwu.
According to Commissioner of Police Longe, the five notorious armed robbers and kidnappers specialized in kidnapping passengers along Onda-Mararaba-Udege road. “They not only rob, or take ransom, they also rape,” he said.
A dismissed soldier in the gang
One of the gang members is Isaac Olu, the suspect nabbed when they were about to abandon Nwachukwu’s corpse. A native of Ife North Local Government Area of Osun State, Olu is a dishonoured soldier.
He told Saturday Sun: “I was dismissed from the Nigeria Army for indiscipline at 72 Infantry Battalion, Port Harcourt. I am a driver in Abuja. I joined the gang to kidnap the deceased Osundu Nwachukwu. After we collected ransom from the victim’s wife, we shot the victim dead. We took the corpse in a wheelbarrow and were moving through the bush when a vigilante intercepted us thinking we were coming to steal Fulani’s cows”.
They had abandoned the wheelbarrow with the corpse and fled. Olu, however, was caught and handed over to the policemen
“We have been involved in several kidnapping and armed robberies,” Olu confessed.
According to the State Commissioner of Police, “the suspects will soon be charged to court after investigation is completed.”