By Babatunde Kaka
A combined team of rapid response squad (RRS), anti-robbery squad and operations arm have nabbed a gang of criminals who attempted to rob an electronic store in Epe.
The criminals had broken into an electronic shop, Fleak Ventures, Alrisku, along Lagos Road, Epe, Lagos State around 2 am on 21st January 2020.
But the timely intervention of different security outfits foiled the occurrence of the organized crime.
Reacting to the incident while speaking with Ekohotblog, Alhaji Olalekan Akodu, a retired Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives stated that the incident was still a bizarre and astonishing one which started as a flash with a missed call he got from the Manager of the Showroom around 1:30 Am.
He noted that as it is habitual of him to wake up around that time to answer the call of nature, he stumbled on two missed calls on his phone call log. He received with rude shock the news from the Manager that criminals were breaking into the showroom after being alerted by good Samaritan residents in the neighbourhood.
Regarding what transpired at the crime scene, Ekohotblog, while speaking in an interview with Alhaji Akodu, exclusively gathered that the strategy employed by Alhaji Akodu, who was in Lagos at that time, was a multi-dimensional approach which successfully quelled the robbers from carting away electronic appliances from the Showroom.
” Immediately the matter was brought to the attention of Alhaja Akodu, the owner of the Showroom, we began a multi-dimensional strategy. The first line of action was to call eminent personalities living in that vicinity to see how the hoodlums could be distracted and dislodged. I express deep appreciation to Hon. Fariu Arebi for his gallantry during the ungodly hour because he was amongst the first set of people called upon to help mobilize local and regular security men in Epe to checkmate the robbers.
“The second strategy was to reach out to the RRS headquarters in Alausa through phone call and thereafter, the Anti Robbery Squad was reached out to through their free toll helpline, 112. Also, the Showroom Manager reached out to the Internal Security men at Epe Local Government Housing Estate for mobilization of support and report at Epe Police Station because there were no means of transport at that unholy hour.
As the intensive mobilization was being done, we were monitoring the activities of the Robbers through the good Samaritan because we were in Lagos. Honourable Arebi came out that midnight and was also physically on phone coordinating communications with the combined Policemen at Epe “, he said.
Alhaji Akodu further disclosed intel has it that the Robbers had been in Epe since around 6 pm with their truck, parked at the T-Junction Area, Lagos – Epe Road. He stated that on getting to the scene, the criminals broke the big and small entrance gates to gain access to the electronics facility. The gang were said to have also overwhelmed the Night Guard at the showroom by hitting him on the head which dispatched the elderly man into a coma, after which they tied him with ropes. After subduing the Showroom Security Guard, they broke into the front doors of the Showroom with hefty equipment as the Showroom had two levels of Security Doors. It was while they were breaking down the Security doors that the disturbance attracted the good Samaritans who alerted the Manager.
Having successfully broken the doors, it was gathered that the robbers gained access into the Showroom after almost two hours and began packing the goods. And strategically, after they successfully gained entrance, the daredevils convened the vehicle parked at the T-Junction for packing the loots.
” It took them almost two hours to dislodge the Night Guard. As they moved in with their Larry and commenced loading, the Combined gallantry of men of RRS, Anti-Robbery Squad, Epe Division and Operations Arm of Epe Police Station swooped on them and they were caught in action. Out of the six members of the robbery gang, while four of them were caught in the act, two others fled the crime scene by jumping the fence and thereafter bolted into the darkness of the Night “, he said.
In his final submission, Alhaji Akodu appreciated the synergies demonstrated by the Government security outfits in the community for arresting the situation. He, however, frowned at the inability of Local Vigilante, charged with the responsibility of complementing safety of lives and properties, to respond to the distress calls put across during the incident.
“Let me emphatically and unequivocally thank the combined members of the RRS, the Anti Robbery Squad, Epe Division and the Operations Arm of Epe Police Station for rising to the occasion. There was no Local Vigilante involved in this exercise as they were nowhere to be found. All attempts at reaching out to the Local Vigilante were futile as they did not respond to our distress calls.
“Let us call a spade a spade, there is no local vigilante or Security in Epe town. The success of this operation was due to the multidimensional intervention by the men of the Nigerian Police Force listed above and the constant information from good samaritans living in the vicinity of the Showroom “, the retired P.S stated.
As it is widely believed that the incident was a robbery, Ekohotblog has it on good authority that the criminal act was a break-in which has been immediately transferred to the Force CID after the arrests. Also, the Security man who went into coma has since been hospitalised and is responding to medication.
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