A gang of suspected armed robbers and kidnappers terrorising motorists and passengers along Warri-Sapele road in Delta State has been smashed by operatives of the state police command.

The gang which is led by one Sunday Nyero, a 25-year-old resident of Sapele, is believed to be responsible for series of armed robbery and kidnap cases on the busy highway.

The gang leader while being paraded alongside his members at the police command headquarters in Asaba, told our reporter that he is the first son of his father, a polygamous pastor, in one of the old generation churches.

His words: “I am a rubber tapper, but I got involved in crime because of frustration and home problems. My father is a pastor. I am the eldest son of my father. So, this whole thing is a home problem. I’m even confused.

“My father will be so ashamed now if he finds out that I was arrested for kidnapping. I am only begging for forgiveness from God, my pregnant wife and two children.

“I dropped out of primary school even though he tried to educate us, but because he married two wives, we were living far apart from each other, so it was difficult to monitor us.”

The suspected gang leader confessed that his squad had been operating on the Warri-Sapele road, but quickly added that they had only succeeded once due to constant police harassment.

“We kidnap people on the Warri-Sapele road, but it is not every time. We have attempted five times, but succeeded only once because the police are always after us.

“The only occasion we succeeded, the woman was coming from the market and she had no money. She was pleading with us that she had no money. We searched her phone and discovered that she had no money.

“The cash that was with her was about N100,000, which we collected and gave her transport fare. So my boys and I shared the balance and allowed her to go. Since then, we have not gone to work,” he said.

According to him, each time they went for an operation, they usually rented arms from one Kelvin (now at large) who also participated in the operation and took part in sharing the proceeds.

Parading the suspects, the Public Relations Officer of the command, DSP Bright Edafe, said that the Commissioner of Police, Wale Abass, detailed operatives of the Decoy Squad of the command to embark on a discreet and intelligence operation in the area, following series of complaints.

Edafe said that the squad embarked on covert operations in Sapele while acting on credible intelligence gathered within Sapele and environs.

“They arrested one Nyero Sunday ‘m’ 29 years, of Okwitolo community alongside eight others all in Okpe Local Government Area of Delta State.

“All the suspects who were arrested through technical intelligence-led investigation have confessed to their involvements in numerous kidnapping/armed robbery operations.

“They also admitted to terrorizing the Sapele-Warri road. Further investigation led to the arrest of one Umar Bello ‘m’ age 33 years from Sokoto State, but resides in Warri.

“He usually buys the stolen phones and other valuables robbed from their victims.

“A Toyota Corolla with registration number WWR 353 LS, a locally made cut-to-size single barrel pistol, 11 rounds of live cartridges, were recovered from the syndicate. Effort is on to arrest other fleeing suspects,” he added. (Sunday Sun)

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