I wanted to rob my uncle because he provoked me

9 years ago

I wanted to rob my uncle because he provoked me

From left: Erherhie, Ovologbarho, Ezenwa and Ibe | credits: Jesusegun Alagbe

When Emmanuel Erherhie’s uncle kicked him out of his house December last year, little did he know that his nephew would plan a revenge for this action. According to Erherhie, it was unfair for his uncle whom he had known for many years do such a thing to him. So since that time, he had been nursing a grudge against his uncle and sought for waysto punish him.

On Erherhie’s account, the sin he committed was that he drove his uncle’s car without permission from him, and in the process smashed it. He said this made his uncle to send him out of the house in annoyance. And so on July 18, 2014, seven months after being kicked out and sent back to their home in Delta State, Erherhie decided to strike back at his uncle.

Since he could not do the job alone, he teamed up with three of his friends who are also from the same community, Ughwagba, Okpe Local Government Area, Delta State. Their goal was simple: go to Erherhie’s uncle’s house in Lagos and rob him of some money good enough to step up their living.

Erherhie told Saturday PUNCH, “I liaised with my friends to come and rob my uncle. I was looking for money. I had worked for him in his furniture company as a sales boy before he drove me out of his house; he never gave me money all the time I was with him except for stipends sometimes. My only offence was that I used his car to go visit my friends somewhere in Festac, Lagos, and while I was on my way coming, I had an accident with the car.

“I was living in his house. He did not send me on an errand, but my friends and I just decided to visit some of our friends to catch some fun since it was a festive period. We did not even meet those friends we went to see. As we were going back to the house, I smashed his car and when he learnt about it, he got very angry. So he sent me out that same December and I went back to our village.

“But I would not have done this if not that a friend of mine told me that he could help me process my travelling out of Nigeria. I did not even know the country he said he wanted to procure visa for. He just told me that some people were looking for those they could send out of the country. He said it would cost me N100,000. Since I did not have that kind of money, I thought of going back to my uncle’s house to steal some money from him. He provoked me to do this.”

Erherhie added that he knew where his uncle kept money and that he wanted to sneak into the house, steal some money, and leave. He brought a friend, Joseph Ovologbarho, 21, up to speed on his thought. Ovologbarho also informed two other friends, Victor Ezenwa, 22, and Innocent Ibe, 21, and they all left their homes for Lagos – to ‘seek relief’ for an aggrieved friend.

But on the day of operation, they had not even gained entry into Erherhie’s uncle’s house before the bubble burst.

“I thought that my uncle would not be at home that very day. He used to be out of Lagos and even when in Lagos, he was not usually at home at such a time,” he narrated.

Unfortunately for Erherhie and his gang, his uncle was at home this very day. So as they got to the gate of his house, the bubble burst. Erherhie’s uncle came out and saw two strange visitors. When Erherhie saw that it was his uncle who came out of the door to open the gate, he quickly made a plan B.

He said, “When I rang the bell and saw that he was around, I told my friends to go and engage him in a discussion so that while doing that, I could pass through the backyard and enter the house to carry the money. It was a silly idea, though. I am 24 years old. My uncle opened the gate, stepped outside and started interrogating my friends.

“He did not even allow them in. As they could not answer his questions properly, I guess he suspected something was going wrong. Then he called some people in the area who rounded my friends up. As they searched their pockets, they saw four cartridges, and that was the beginning of my problem. Those ones then handed my friends to the police and that was how they confessed that I was involved. The police came from Lagos to my community in Delta State to arrest me.”

Erherhie’s friend, Joseph Ovologbarho, said he was a plumber and had just finished serving as an apprentice plumber when his friend told him about the idea of robbing his uncle as payback for what he did to him last year.

He said, “I had never been to Lagos before. My first time of coming here was the time I was arrested. I only planned to come for the job and leave at once. Now they have caught me. I have never robbed before. I thought if we were successful and I got some money from the operation, I would open a small shop where I could start selling plumbing materials. I just wanted to start my own business too.

“My father is late and my mother and I have been struggling all these years; that was why I accepted the devilish idea. I wish I had not come to Lagos. I am very sorry for my mistake. I just pray that God will forgive me because I know it is a sin. I will not do this again if I am out of here.”

Victor Ezenwa, who said he was a painter, said he would not have embarked on the mission if he knew what it would land him into.

He said, “Emmanuel told us his uncle might not be at home and that was the reason I even agreed to this. My painting business is not the type I could make money everyday. Emmanuel told me that if I went with them, I would get some money to start a business on a large scale. He even told me that his uncle was building an estate and that he was looking for a painter. That was why I decided to follow them, he lured me. He told Innocent and I that we should pose as a plumber and a painter respectively to his uncle. He did not tell me about robbing his uncle.”

And the last suspect, Innocent Ibe, also said, “I am a plumber too and it was my first time of travelling to Lagos. Emmanuel paid our transport and accommodation on the day we arrived. I thought it was just to steal some money and leave. We did not even carry guns. Now I am finished.”

However, the men of the Special Anti Robbery Squad, Lagos State Police Command, who traced the suspects to Delta State and arrested them said the suspects were only lying. A SARS officer, who did not want his name in print because he was not authorised to speak for SARS, said, “They are a gang of armed robbers. In fact, two of them are even at large now. They have been operating for a long time until they were arrested. Two other members of the gang, Joseph and Obinna, are still at large now with gunshot wounds.”

SARS men nab suspected guns, bullets suppliers

The men of the Special Anti Robbery Squad, Lagos Police Command, who apprehended Erherhie and his gang said through their confessions, they were also able to arrest one Oyoma Akpojiyovwi, 34, who was allegedly the supplier of bullets to the Erherhie’s gang. But Akpojiyovwi told a different story.

He said, “I am a youth leader in my community in Ughelli, Delta State. We use these locally-made guns for security reason. We usually guard our community from thieves and armed robbers because they use to burgle homes in our community a lot. We are a vigilante group and even when we catch thieves and armed robbers, we hand them over to the police.

“Joseph, Emmanuel’s friend, is also a member of our community vigilante group and he used to demand for bullets from me. He came to me sometime in July and said I should give him four bullets, stating that he wanted to go on patrol with some of our other colleagues. So I gave him.

“One Saturday night, I saw SARS men in my father’s compound (I still lived in his house prior to now). They asked me how many young men were in the compound and I said three. They told me to go and wake them up. When I did that, they told my father that they were from Lagos and that they wanted to interrogate us. I did not know the bullets I gave Joseph were not for our work, but for robbery. When they brought him before me, he pointed at me that I was the one who gave him the bullets. That is why I am here.”

Another suspect who was allegedly a supplier of guns to the Erherhie gang, James Ukerume, 32, denied having sold guns before to anyone except that he introduced his relative, Joseph Ovologbarho, to his friend, Joseph Afagbor, to trade guns.

He said, “I am a barber and a fisherman. Joseph Ovologbarho is my relative. He called me one night in July and asked me whether I wanted to buy a gun stolen from his vigilante group. I said I did not want to buy and that I did not have the money. He asked me to call a friend of mine, Joseph Afagbor, whether he would be interested. I told him to call me back the following day.

“My friend then told me that my brother should bring the gun for inspection. I was in my fish farm with my friend when Joseph brought the gun to sell to my friend and a deal was made between them. Joseph sold the gun for N25,000 to my friend but my friend gave Joseph N20,000.

“I am here because I was a party to the trade of gun between my friend and my brother. I never traded in guns; I only linked my brother with my friend. That is my own offence. I am from Ughwagba, Okpe Local Government Area, Delta State. I was arrested August 21, 2014. I have never held a gun in my life.”

A spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command SARS unit, SP Abba Kyari, said investigation was still ongoing and that the suspects would soon be charged to court.