An intelligence-driven operation led by the Divisional Police Officer, Alausa Division, CSP Tokunbo Abaniwonda, has led to the arrest of a musician, Toochukwu Ucheagwu, aka Thuglife, who claimed to have robbed over 100 persons of their valuables on Otedola Bridge, Lagos State.
The police also arrested Ucheagwu’s gang members, an ex-dispatch rider, Richard Etim, and one Chidera Christopher.
The suspects, who operated with dangerous weapons including cutlasses and bottles, usually targeted unsuspecting passengers waiting to board vehicles around the bridge and passersby plying the bridge to navigate their destinations in the state.
The leader of the gang, Ucheagwu, said after dispossessing their victims of their money, mobile phones, among other valuables, they usually proceeded to the Computer Village in Ikeja, to sell the phones at cheap prices to customers.
The 29-year-old said, “I am a musician; my stage name is Thuglife. We have robbed over 100 persons on the Otedola Bridge. We usually make use of cutlasses and bottles during operation.
“I started with a gang I met on Kurata, around the Afrikan Shrine. The gang focused on robbing people whose vehicles developed a mechanical fault on the Otedola Bridge.
“Later on, I left the gang after realising that police shot one of them dead. I started my operations with a guy named James, who later left. After he left, another person introduced Etim to me.
“After we rob people of their money and phones, we sell the phones, share the money and because I don’t have a house, I usually use part of my share of the money to lodge at hotels.”
Ucheagwu said policemen tracked him down to the location where he was arrested. He added, “I usually sell the phones to a buyer at Computer Village. I sell it at cheap prices ranging from N10,000, N15,000, N20,000, and N30,000 depending on the type of phone.
“I once sold a Samsup Fold 1 for N110,000. I also sold a Samsung X 20 for N30,000.”
Ucheagwu’s partner in crime, Etim, while revealing their mode of operation, said he continued the illicit operations despite being warned by his pastor and pregnant girlfriend.
He said, “I used to be a dispatch rider before I joined Thuglife (Ucheagwu) and started robbing people on Otedola Bridge. But I later left him because I wasn’t satisfied with the share of the money he usually gave me after the operation.
“I and my pregnant girlfriend who does not know I rob people for a living, went to church for prayers. When the pastor asked for the job I do for a living, I told him I have no job, and he warned me to stop any illegal thing that I am doing.
“He said if I continued, it would affect the lives of my girlfriend and our unborn child. I later confessed to my girlfriend that I rob people for a living and she told me to stop but I continued because I needed money to take care of her and unborn child.”
Christopher, in his statement, said he joined the group because he was jobless and homeless.
He said, “I was in search of a job and had no place to leave. At times at sleep at places close to the Shrine and at building sites.
“It was at the Shrine that I joined the group as I was told they usually assist people whose vehicles broke down on Otedola Bridge.
“I never knew they usually take advantage of it to rob people. I saw them robbing people of their phones and after the whole incident, they gave me N5000. I was given N2100 during the second operation.”
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the arrest of the suspects, adding that the investigation into the case was ongoing. “The suspects would soon be charged to court,” he added.