Lagos Police in massive arms haul

The Lagos State Police Command has recovered some weapons including over 10,000 rounds of ammunition in the state.

Parading three armed robbery suspects in connection with the discovery on Tuesday, Umar Manko, State Police Commissioner, described it as the biggest cache recovered from criminals in the history of the state.

The items recovered include nine AK 47 rifles, two GPMG (General Purpose Machine Gun), one RPG launcher, also known as rocket propel grenade launcher, 225 AK 47 live ammunition, 260 rounds of GPMG live ammunition and five dynamites with detonators.

The suspects, Uche Okeagbu, Emmanuel Ezeani and Chinoso Nwaugwu, all 23 years of age, allegedly participated in the deadly robbery incidents across Lagos on Sunday, September 9.

No fewer than six persons, including three police officers lost their lives that Sunday.

Meanwhile, the police also claimed to have recovered two buses used by the armed robbery gang as their armoury.

Also recovered was a metallic brown Infinity G35 car, fully fitted with ultra ray sensor cameras allegedly used by the gang to monitor the police during armed robbery operations.

Manko stated that the arrest of the suspected robbery gang reflected his leadership's determination to rid the state of criminals.

He said that the suspects were arrested on Sunday, September 23, following a tip-off.

"The OC SARS (Officer-in-Charge Special Anti-Robbery Squad) Abba Kyari acted on a tip-off and arrested one Uche Okeagbu at Ilemba, Hausa area Ajangbadi Lagos. During interrogation, Uche gave useful information that led to the arrest of Chinoso and Emmanuel," he said.

"Their confessions led to the recovery of the cache of arms and ammunition."

Moreover, the police stated that the gang had operated and robbed banks in Ibadan, Uyo, Kwara, Akure, Oshogbo, Auchi, Okene and Lagos States before their arrests.

The gang had allegedly made more than five million naira from their operations in the past two years.

Some of the banks they have allegedly attacked include First bank, UBA, GTBank, Diamond Bank and Skye bank.

Manko urged residents to cooperate with the police, stating that the command was determined to check criminal activities in the state.