The Abia State Police Command, on Monday, paraded a dismissed officer of the Department of State Services, Prosper Israel, along with his younger brother and eight others for robbing a billion van.
The ex-DSS officer, his younger brother, Chinwendu Israel, along with the other eight had on July 26, 2022 attacked a bullion van being escorted by the Police on the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, near Ntigha Junction in the Isiala Ngwa North L.G.A of Abia State, killing in the process the cash officer on the spot.
Parading the suspects at the Abia State police command headquarters in Umuahia, the state Commissioner of Police, CP Janet Agbede, said the sum of N10,184,000.00 was recovered from the gang.
According to the police boss, the arrest of the suspects followed “a careful study of their modus operandi” after which the command set up a special Intelligence Technologically-Led Investigation Squad mandated with a clear directive to arrest and recover weapons used by the deadly armed robbery gang.
“Other suspects arrested include Adesoji Adeniyi aka ‘Soji’ (male) from Ondo State, resident and arrested in Lagos State, Nnamdi Nwaosu aka ‘Prophet’ from Rivers State, resident and arrested in Imo State, and Nwachukwu Albert aka White (1st Armourer) from Delta State, resident and arrested in Lagos State.
“Others are, Felix Ajalaja from Ondo State, resident and arrested in Rivers State; Moshood Opeyemi aka Abiola from Osun State, resident and arrested in Rivers State; Matthew Christmas aka Aluwa from Delta State, resident and arrested in Delta State; Azubuike Amaefula aka Zubby from Abia State, resident and arrested in Rivers State, and Monday Samuel aka MD (2nd Armourer) from Delta State, resident and arrested in Ondo State”, the CP said.
Exhibits recovered from them include one General Purpose Machine Gun with 53 rounds of live ammunition, 13 AK47 rifles with 1,749 live ammunition, two improvised explosive dynamite, one cut-to-size double barrel gun with five live cartridges, and 84 AK47 magazines.
Others are Mercedes Benz mini truck they used in concealing their firearms and cash of 10 million, one hundred and eighty-four thousand naira (N10,184,000.00) only.
“All the above-mentioned suspects in their individual voluntary statements confessed belonging to a 14-man awful armed robbery gang with a speciality in bullion van attacks and that for about two months before the attack, the bullion van had been under their surveillance”, the CP further said.
She advised parents, guardians, husbands, wives and children to always know the sources of one others’ livelihood.
In his confessional statement, Mr Prosper Israel said he was dismissed from the DSS in 2007 after his service at Government House, Umuahia, Abia State ended in 2007.
