Police arrest two Uber carjackers, receiver of stolen goods

Chioma Joseph, Lagos

Two suspects who had lured an Uber driver, Ekwomi Charles, into the bush, attempted to strangle him and made away with his Toyota Camry have been arrested by the operatives of Rapid Response Squad (RRS) in Lagos.

The suspected car hijackers were arrested in Lekki, Lagos, while on their way to hand over the snatched car to a buyer, Emeka Okoye.

It was learnt that the suspects, Daniel Alagor, 28, Samuel Effiong, 25 and three other suspects still at large had on the night of June 19 requested for the services of an Uber car through Alagor’s mobile phone.

Supported by another gang member identified as Blessing (still at large), Alagor had told the Uber driver to take the duo to Abijo GRA from Jakande Estate, Lekki around 11:00 p.m.

Mastermind of the plan, Alagor narrated that “almost midway into the trip, Blessing told the driver we were going to a birthday party at Shoprite, Sangotedo and that we were going to pick two of our colleagues up in Abijo GRA, Ajah.

Narrating his ordeal, the Uber driver who narrowly escaped death said “I agreed to pick their friends and drop them at the venue of the party as we were already in Abijo GRA.

“They called their friends and we agreed I move into the estate to meet them on their way. I drove about 100 meters and I didn’t encounter them.

They eventually, came and immediately they entered the car, they tied a rope around my neck from the back. Then all of them started punching me till I passed out.

“Thinking that I was dead, they took me into the bush and dropped my body near an uncompleted building. They left beside me a knife after tying me. Thank God, I woke up later. I reported at the closest police station and eventually, I learnt the police arrested them.”

Investigations revealed that the suspects after presumably, killing the Uber driver left one of them in Abijo GRA while three of them Alagor, Blessing and another suspect, whose identity police are working on drove the car to Shoprite, Ijeshatedo to pick Samuel Effiong, who already had negotiated with Okoye.

The Lagos state Commissioner of Police, Zubairu Muazu while applauding the development directed all the suspects be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) for further investigations.