JOHN ADAMS, Minna
The Niger State Police Command has arrested three male students of the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University (IBBU) Lapai, Niger State in connection with the robbery at the off-campus hostel of the institution in the early hours of Monday.
A source closed to the police command in Minna told our correspondent on Wednesday that the “student robbers” were arrested on the campus of the university.
Our source, however, refused to disclose the identity of the students as investigations, he said, was still going on to apprehend other members of the gang.
According to the source, some of the victims of the robbery had already identified the three suspects as those that robbed them.
It was gathered that following the development, the police carried out a search on the hostels of the suspects during which some items belonging to the victims were found in addition to some dangerous weapons.
Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Muhammad Abubakar, confirmed the story when contacted, saying the suspects would be brought to the headquarters of the Criminal Investigation Department of the police for further interrogation.
DSP Abubakar said the police had also begun the search for other members of the robbery gang.
It would be recalled that on Monday morning, robbers raided the 25-room off-campus hostel of the university dispossessing both male and female occupants of the hostel of their cell phones computer lap tops, IPads and other valuable items.
The female victims of the robbery were asked to give out their jewelleries while those who had none were severely beaten up. Some of the victims were said to have sustained injuries and shock.
“The robbers reportedly operated from 12 midnight till 2 am before they left the same way they came,” after which the police came to the scene” an eyewitness had told our correspondent.