By Eric Moore
A driver of a minibus (Keke Bus) identified as Kelechi, has been apprehended by angry youths for allegedly giving information to members of his robbery gang to dispossess unsuspecting passengers of their belongings.
Daily Sun gathered that the suspect, who uses a minibus without a plate number, arranges with members of his robbery gang to attack and rob his passengers in the evening.
Kelechi was nabbed at Artillery junction, Aba Road, Port Harcourt in Rivers State at about 11.pm on Sunday, after two ladies, he and his gang had earlier robbed, identified him when he (suspect) was about to buy fuel at a filling station along Aba road.
One of the victims, Gloria Ephraim, in an interview with journalists narrated
She said: “What happened is that, we entered motor (minibus) at Oyigbo Express; we were going to our friend’s place who was celebrating her birthday.
“The driver asked us where we were going to. We told him we were going to market junction.He said we should N700; we said we had N500. He said we should enter.
“Then, when we entered, he drove us and stopped at a place where there was no vehicle and put fuel. Then, we were like the place you stopped us and put fuel is not good. There was a lady at the front with a guy, she was going along,
“This thing happened at Oil Mill flyover. The driver now stopped, four guys came out with knife. They put knife under their Snicker. When the four guys attacked us and asked for our phones,one of the passengers sitting at the window side jumped out, ran and crossed to the another lane of the road.They did not succeed to rob him.
“They flogged my girlfriend with knife because she was close to the door and I was in the middle side in the bus. Although the knife touched me but not the way they did to my girlfriend.
“During the incident, one of the guys said I should give him my phone or he is going to kill us and nothing will happen. I threw my phone through the window they were beating my girlfriend with me. So, my girlfriend had to give them her phone. I did not know that one of the guys saw when I threw my phone. The guy now collected it.
“The backside of the minibus there is no glass, it is water-proof they used in covering it. After they collected our phones, as we were running, we heard the driver calling one of the guys name that he should keep his own share.That was when I told my girlfriend that the driver carried us and gave the people who robbed us.
“As we were running, we saw an Hausa man driving motorcycle who helped us and dropped us at Artillery.”
A youth activist, Kelvin Nwachukwu, who assisted in apprehending the driver said: “I was at Artillery junction, some girls were complaining that they were robbed by ‘One Chance’ robbers. Unfortunately for the driver of the ‘One Chance” syndicate, he was turning at Artillery to buy fuel at a filling station as at when the girls were complaining to people.
“The girls quickly identified the driver. So, I mobilized the people they were complaining to, to apprehend the driver. We went to the filling station, we saw some of the girls’ property inside the bus We carried the driver with the girls to Mini-Okoro Police station.His minibus is there.His name is Kelechi, He is from Anambra State.
” We made an entry at Mini-Okoro Police Station. For now, he is still at Mini-Okoro Police station.”
The Rivers State Police Command was yet to make official statement on the incident.