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Edo prison break: Inmate on death-row stole car 30-minutes after escape
BY NICHOLAS ABE
The Nigeria Police says its operatives have rearrested five inmates who had escaped from the Benin Prison after hoodlums hijacked the #EndSARS protest in Benin, Edo State, broke into the facility and freed the inmates.
Also, according to the police, thirty-five suspects have been arrested for their involvement in armed robbery, kidnapping and other crimes in various parts of the country.
Spokesman of the Nigeria Police Force, DCP Frank Mba, in a statement on Monday, named the rearrested inmates who were kept at the Oko Correctional Centre, Benin, as Onaruje Benjamin, who had earlier been convicted for conspiracy and armed robbery and was on death-row at the time of escape; Adebayo Opeyemi, a dismissed soldier; Peter Felix Osas, Frank Odion Oloye and Alhaji Hudu Musa a.k.a Mai Cellular.
The five were arrested by operatives of the FIB – Intelligence Response Team in Kaduna State, for offences of armed robbery, car theft and unlawful possession of firearms.
Exhibits recovered from the suspects include: 8 AK-49 rifles,1 Beretta Pistol with 6 rounds of live ammunition, 3 locally made pistols, 111 rounds of AK-47 ammunition,10 AK-47 magazine, 5 live cartridges, 7 laptop computers, 1 anti-tracking device, 1 camouflage vest, 8 stolen but recovered vehicles and 1 stolen but recovered trailer truck (Mercedes Actros with reg. no. NNK 334 YT).
READ: #EndSARS: FG silence suspicious as lawyer calls Edo prison break mind-boggling
“Investigations reveal the suspects having escaped from the Correctional Centre, formed a new criminal gang and returned to their old criminal enterprise. As a matter of fact, one of the suspects, Onaruje Benjamin, snatched a Toyota Corolla Car in Benin, 30-minutes after his escape from the Correctional Centre. Five (5) vehicles earlier snatched from their owners at gunpoint in different parts of the country were recovered from the gang. While Onaruje Benjamin is the leader of the gang and the arms bearer, Alhaji Hudu Musa is in charge of ferrying and disposing the stolen vehicles to Niger Republic.
“Also arrested is one female suspect, Talatu Ibrahim, 40-years-old from Shinkafi LGA, Zamfara State, from whom six (6) AK-49 rifles were recovered. Her arrest led to the subsequent arrest of one Duleji Alhaji Abubakar a.k.a Ori jeje, residing at Ekka village, Koro LGA, Kwara State. Findings reveal that Ori Jeje has been getting arms supply from Talatu Ibrahim to carry out series of kidnapping and armed robbery in Kwara State.
“The operatives also arrested one Abdullahi Mohammed a.k.a ‘Governmenti’, a specialist in car snatching. Investigation reveals that the suspect, within 90-days (August, September and October, 2020) snatched 18 vehicles at gunpoint from their owners in Jos and Bauchi States,” Mba said in his statement.
The police spokesman while announcing the IGP Mohammed Adamu’s reassurance of citizens’ safety declared that all the suspects will be arraigned in court on completion of investigations.