I Stole To Pay For Surgery, Says Suspect

A suspect, Onyekachi Michael, 25, has confessed that he was sorry he had to rob saying it was his first attempt even as he said he had to rob to raise money for a surgery. He was among the over 20 suspects paraded yesterday by the Abia State Police Commissioner, Leye Oyebade.

He confessed that he stole the laptop which he sold to his friend, Ifeanyi Okocha, a professional DJ at N15,000. According to him, he needed to raise N45,000 for surgery. Okocha had said that he bought the laptop from Michael, not knowing that it was stolen.

The Police also paraded one Samuel Okorie, who with other members of his three-man gang on October 1, 2016, at Lopkaukwu in Umunneochi local government area, robed, raped and killed one Mrs Anthonia Dike whom they trailed to Ofeme in Umuahia North local government area on September 29, 2016.

The woman was said to be returning from Jos, probably on a business trip, when the incident occurred. Okorie said the other members of the gang were at large.

The Police Commissioner said that the gang raped all the occupants of the vehicle but shot Mrs Dike at the end of the orgy. Among the suspects were a 300-level undergraduate of political science from the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, Franklin Ukachukwu, who specialise in stealing household properties.

He was arrested with his gang and the woman who buys the stolen items, Nwakala Adiele from Owahafor, Obingwa local government area. Items recovered include, Toyota Sienna with registration number AGL 676 DH, five fans, three TV sets including one Plasma TV, two generator sets, CD players, among others, at Aba.

Oyebade also paraded, six suspected vandals and a car snatching syndicate that specialises in snatching cars from Umuahia to Akwa Ibom State. He said that while three members of the gang were arrested, three others escaped.

The Police recovered one Toyota Highlander Jeep with registration number JJJ 872 CX, one black Mercedes Benz car with registration No.AG 467 NEM, one AK 47 riffle with two magazines containing 31 rounds of live ammunition, one locally made revolver pistol, among others.