Robbery suspects in auto crash while fleeing with stolen vehicle

Men of the Ogun State Police Command have arrested three members of a fleeing robbery syndicate who snatched a Toyota Camry car in Ondo State, at gunpoint.

They were apprehended after they had a ghastly accident on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, while fleeing with the stolen vehicle.

The five-man robbery syndicate, two of whom are now at large, had allegedly dressed in police uniform and flagged down the owner of the Toyota Camry car somewhere on the road in Ondo State and later dragged him out of the car before escaping with his vehicle.

Three of the robbery suspects-Sunday Emmanuel, Idris Ibrahim and Emeka John, however, crashed the vehicle at Ode-Remo axis of the Ibadan – Lagos expressway while attempting to escape to Lagos State, where they intended to dispose of the car.

The command’s Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Abimbola Oyeyemi, who confirmed the incident to newsmen on Wednesday in Abeokuta, the state’s capital, explained that policemen at the Ode-Remo divisional headquarters had rushed them to the hospital for treatment without knowing their identities.

Oyeyemi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said, “While in the hospital, the Divisional Police Officer for Ode-Remo, Mr. Fasogbon Olayemi, a Chief Superintendent of Police, received a signal that the vehicle in question was snatched at gunpoint by the accident victims.

“On the strength of that information, the DPO quickly ordered that they should be placed under arrest right in the hospital. One of the suspects, identified as Emeka John, later died while receiving treatment”.

The police spokesman also explained that the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Edward Ajogun, had ordered that the remaining two suspects-Emmanuel and Ibrahim, be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) “for onward transfer to Ondo State Police Command where they will be prosecuted”.

(THISDAY)