Elijah David, a robbery suspect,
says Larry Ehizo, an employee of First Bank of Nigeria, Mpape area of Abuja,
led his gang to rob the bank.
Three members of the gang were
arrested on Saturday after they were trapped in the bank by security agents.
One was shot dead while trying to escape.
A team of police officers and
soldiers had laid siege to the bank, scuttling the operation.
Speaking when they were paraded
by the police on Tuesday, David said Ehizo informed him and his gang that they
could get as much as N7 million from the failed heist.
“Ehizo told us that the job could
fetch about N7m. After we entered the bank, we saw a riot policeman on duty but
sleeping, so Obinna pointed a pistol at him and we tied him with an old sponge,”
he said.
“Mr Larry told us that he would
keep the other door open for us. So, Larry and Obinna later went upstairs with
a pair of pliers to disconnect the CCTV.
“On our way out, Larry suddenly
shouted, ‘Ah, the MOPOL has escaped’; then, I ran inside and all of us
scattered. I didn’t know what to do. Then the police began firing teargas into
the premises.”
On his part, Princewill Obinna,
another suspect, said the banker told them that the robbery would not take more
than 15 minutes.
“Mr Larry told us there that
there was a deal he wanted us to execute and that it would not take more than
10 to 15 minutes,” he said.
“He said the bank would not
operate on Saturdays and that if we could come around, he would help us to get
the money out.”
But the banker said he was
blackmailed into the robbery by one Ernest, a customer of the bank.
“Ernest is a customer of the bank
and that is where we got to know each other, because I work in the customer
service unit of the bank,” he said.
“There is a place I used to
drink, that’s where he works as a barman. He told me to tell the gang members
how to get inside, show them where the CCTV was and that I should show them
where the police officer on duty would be.
“When we drove into the bank, he
even called me, because he was across the bank. He said I should just do as
agreed and out of fear, I said yes.”
Bala Ciroma, FCT police
commissioner, said four locally-made guns, one Peugeot 206, two cutlasses, two
daggers, one axe, a pair of pliers and one Infinix Note phone were recovered
from the suspects.
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