Chinaza Philip-Okoye, the suspected notorious Abuja criminal, has claimed that he’s an armed robber and not a kidnapper.
Chinaza made the claim during an interview with our correspondent on Wednesday during a parade of criminal suspects at the Federal Capital Territory Police Command.
He narrated the incident that led to his arrest by the police while noting his connection with other members of the gang who are still at large.
“I want to categorically state that I’m not a kidnapper, I am not a kidnapper. We only patrol at night and collect cars, and we take them to Kano for sale.
“That night, our aim was to rob the man and take his car, but I was surprised that after we collected his car, Yellow who is like our leader, asked the man to enter the back of the car. I didn’t know why he did that, and I couldn’t argue with him, so we were driving to Kano before the police caught up with us in Kaduna where I was arrested.”
The Nigeria Police Force had last Saturday paraded Philip-Okoye on a stretcher at the Force Intelligence Response Team base, Guzape, Abuja.
Our correspondent gathered that the suspect sustained serious injuries after he was shot by police officers following the interception of his gang at a fueling station last Thursday night.
Philip-Okoye was arrested by a combined team of FCT and Kaduna police officers in Kaduna when the police swooped in on him and his gang members (now at large), while they were taking a victim, Segun Akinyemi from Abuja to Kano State.
The police were notified of Akinyemi’s abduction when the kidnappers drove through Rita Lori, Garki, and Abuja on Thursday night, and all police formations were alerted within the FCT and neighbouring states of Kaduna, Nasarawa, Niger, and Kogi.
“We were informed of Akinyemi’s abduction when the kidnappers drove through Rita Lori in Garki, so the FCT Police Command alerted all police formations in the FCT and neighbouring states of Kaduna, Nasarawa, Niger, and Kogi.
“So, FCT anti-kidnapping operatives chased them into Kaduna State before other gang members fled, and Chinaza Phillip-Okoye was shot at and apprehended by a team of FCT policemen and Kaduna State police officers, and the victim was rescued unhurt and his vehicle recovered,”
A senior police source confirmed to our correspondent.
