I used four vehicle number plates for operations, says ‘one chance’ robbery suspect

The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has arrested two suspects — Chukwudi Nbachukwu and Chukwuma Okeke — over alleged involvement in “one chance” robberies in Abuja.

“One chance” is a type of robbery in which unsuspecting passengers are lured into commercial vehicles whose occupants are robbers.

The suspects were arrested by operatives of the force intelligence department-intelligence response team (FID-IRT).

They were recently paraded by the police and they narrated their mode of operation.

THE CONFESSION

Nbachukwu(pictured in a patterned shirt) said he joined the gang in 2002 and acted as a driver during the operations.

The suspect said he had been involved in operations in Abuja, Cross River, and some parts of the south-east geopolitical zone.

He said the syndicate used different tactics to distract unsuspecting passengers in order to rob them.

He added that whenever he discovered that a victim had memorised the number plate of the vehicle, he would change to another one.

“I actually have three to four number plates. When a victim memorises my vehicle number, I go to another location and change the plate number to another one,” he said.

“I got one of the number plates from my old car that was destroyed in an accident. The other one is from the car used for the operation.

“All the number plates are for me. I registered with my name.”

The suspect said he was remanded in prison for three weeks in Calabar, Cross River state over an alleged robbery.

He said he was granted bail and the case “died” after he paid N800,000 to someone who stood as surety for him.

On his part, Okeke said his role in the syndicate is to act as one of the passengers in the vehicle.