By Samuel Ogude(Warri)
Two armed- robbery suspects have been reportedly shot dead in Delta Community by the Police. The armed -robbers died in gun duel with police officers in their (robbers) bid to escape. The robbery suspects are Gift Famous A.KA “Bobone” “m” aged 29 years and Edafe Friday Onaibe AKA “Laslas” 1500 “m” aged 25 years.
In a press statement by the Police Public Relations Officer, Delta State Command, DSP Bright Edafe, said, on the 2nd December, 2022, the Divisional Police Officer in Ovwian Aladja, CSP Aliyu Shaba, acting on a tip off that two members of the dreaded”Momotimi” gang who had been on the police wanted list for their criminal activities in Warri and other parts of the state, were sighted in a beer parlour at Opete Community in Ovwian Division in Udu Local Government Area ,Delta State. The statement said, armed with this information, the DPO led a team of police operatives and went after them. The statement added that, when the two robbers sighted the police, they opened fire on the police in a bid to escape adding, the police returned fire while giving them a hot chase saying, they were arrested with fatal injuries.
According to the statement, the items recovered from the armed robbery suspects include one locally made single barrel pistol, one cut- to- size locally made double barrel gun, six live cartridges and round of 7.62 AK47 live ammunition. The statement said, both of them died on their way to the hospital. It said, before they died, they have confessed to several robbery attacks, assassination including the murder of Douglas Abugu in Ekpan on the 18th August 2022 because he (Douglas) took over his position of Quarter Chairman when he(Gift Famous) was in prison and he could not get it back on his return. They also confessed to have murdered one” small doctor” in the same Ekpan axis on the 22nd August, 2022.
The statement added that, they also confessed the attempted murder of one man (name withheld) in Ekpan where they shot him in a bid to kidnap him. According to the statement, all attempts are still on to arrest other members of the gang. Part of the statement reads:”However, on their way to the hospital, the suspects confessed to several robberies, assassinations including the murder of one Douglas Abugu in Ekpan on the 18/8/2022…”
Against this background, the Delta State Commissioner of Police, CP Ari Muhammed Ali FCIA, PSC+ solicits for more support from members of the public to help the police to track down criminals in the state just as he advised parents and guidance to caution their children and wards against crimes and criminal activities as there is no hiding place for them any longer.