What!!!Robbery Suspects Cut Bars, Escape From Police Cell (Photo)

Two of the robbery suspects, who
were arrested while they were
operating on Iju Road, in the Agege
area of Lagos, have escaped from the
police cell.
PUNCH Metro learnt that three
suspected members of the gang,
which reportedly laid siege to a hotel
and some residences of Sands Avenue,
off Iju Road, had been handed over to
the Pen Cinema Police Division,
before two of them escaped from the
cell.
It was gathered that policemen, who
were on duty on the fateful day, had
been arrested, while the fleeing
suspects had yet to be re-arrested.
Our correspondent learnt that on
Sunday, August 9, at about 2am, the
armed robbers, said to be about 10
men, invaded the area, and robbed a
hotel and some private homes.
It was learnt that the robbers carted
away money and valuables from the
hotel lodgers, workers, and other
places during the operation.
PUNCH Metro gathered that men of
the Oodua Peoples’ Congress, who
were the local vigilance group in the
area, however, apprehended three of
the robbers and took them to the Pen
Cinema Police Division.
Our correspondent learnt that the
three robbery suspects, identified as
Dare Drain, Akeem AK, and Lekan
Student, were locked up in the cell by
the policemen on duty.
It was gathered that on Wednesday
evening, two of the suspects had,
however, cut through the burglar
bars in the cell, and escaped from
custody.
Victims of the robbery and the OPC
men, who were aggrieved by the
development, were said to have been
invited by a policemen in the station,
who pacified them that the robbers
would be re-arrested.
When PUNCH Metro visited Sands
Avenue on Tuesday, the manager of
the hotel, which was robbed, declined
to give any comment.
However, one of the workers, who
spoke on condition of anonymity, said
the robbers carted away a huge
amount of money and also injured the
hotel’s guard.
He added that the robbers raped
some of the hotel’s female workers,
who had yet to resume work.
He said, “The robbery lasted for more
than an hour. We were helpless. The
robbers overpowered our security
guard and injured him.
“They carted away valuables. They
raped some of our female workers
during the operation. I was told that
the OPC men later caught three of
them and took them to the police
station.”
Pen Cinema division
[/media-credit] Pen Cinema division
Speaking with PUNCH Metro, the OPC
coordinator in the area, who did not
want his name in print, said they
were taken aback when the police in
the Pen Cinema station told them that
two of the suspects escaped from the
cell.
He added that the suspects, who had
yet to be re-arrested, raped some of
their victims during the operation,
including a 13-year-old.
He said, “The security man at the
hotel, who is our member, recognised
one of the robbers and led us to his
place, where he was arrested. The
man confessed to taking part in the
operation. His name is Dare Drain,
and he was caught in the Idi-Agbon
area of Ifako.
“He was the one who took the OPC
men to arrest the other two. The three
that were caught on Sunday were
taken to the police station.
“It was on Wednesday that
information got to us that Drain and
Akeem have escaped from the cell.
We were shocked at the development.
The DPO then invited us, and pleaded
with us to assist the police with
information to re-arrest them, adding
that the policemen on duty had been
detained.
“But as we speak, we have not got
them. What the police told us was
that the robbers cut the burglar bars,
and escaped from the cell. The
robbers, apart from carting away
money, also raped their victims.
“The robbers were led by Dare Drain,
he and his boys had earlier come to
Tarkwa Crescent, before the Sands
Avenue incident.”
Our correspondent learnt from a
source that the robbery suspects
lurked around Oju Irin area in Agege
mostly at night.
The Lagos State Police Public
Relations Officer, DSP Patricia
Amadin, however, said in a text
message that there was no truth in
the incident.