Christopher Oji, Lagos
Two suspected robbers have confessed that they scope out their victims from their Twitter handles.
The suspects were nabbed by the Rapid Response Squad (RSS) of the Lagos State Police Command.
They are alleged to have lured a computer dealer to a lonely location and dispossessed him, at gun point, of two Apple laptops valued at N1.5 million.
The suspects, Remi, 27, a forex trader, and Maxwell, 23, a musician, were arrested after they dispossessed their victim of the laptops.
They confessed that they got details about their victim through his Twitter handle.
The suspects further confessed that immediately after they opened up conversation with their victim, they placed an order for two Apple laptops, MacBook Pro – 2018 version.
According to Remi, a South Africa returnee, “I told the dealer that I was the managing director of a new company on Acme Road, Ikeja. I also told him that my daughter recommended him to me and that his laptops were legitimate. I ordered one for myself and another for my secretary.
“It took us a week to perfect our plan and execute it. My accomplice, Maxwell borrowed his brother’s Camry with registration number, FKJ 833 EZ for the deed. We bought a toy gun and painted it to black colour. I called the victim and directed him to Acme Crescent because we knew the location was always lonely.
“While Maxwell drove, I communicated through WhatsApp, telling him to bring the consignment to my office. I told him that my driver would pick him up at Acme Crescent. We met him there. He entered the vehicle while the driver picked me up few meters from where he entered. He was sitting in front with the laptops. I placed the gun on his neck and ordered him to surrender them. We wanted to take his phone too, but he pleaded not to be stripped of everything. We told him to alight from the car and we zoomed off.”
According to the victim, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said: “A person who introduced himself as Uche, ordered for two Apple laptops. We were communicating on WhatsApp. I never had any inkling that he was a robber. When I met the suspects, they used a gun and a knife and threatened to kill me and they dispossessed me of the laptops. The laptops were valued at N1.5 million.”
The laptops have been recovered from the buyers.
Lagos State Commissioner of Police, CP Zubairu Muazu, advised Lagosians to moderate the amount of information they expose publicly through social media, adding that criminally-minded elements were exploiting the social media to perpetrate crime.