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Police arrest native doctor using army uniform to rob

Published

6 years ago

December 22, 2018

The robbery escapade of a native doctor , who dressed in Nigerian Army camouflage to snatch cars, has reached the end of the road following his arrest by the police .The suspect , Abdullahi Mudi , was apprehended along with his accomplice , Christopher Illia , at different locations in Abuja .

Our correspondent learnt that one of the operational strategies of the two -man gang was to dress in army uniform , pose as passengers by hailing a cab and strike with toy guns after they had entered the cab .

It was gathered that the suspects had recently stolen three cars in the Federal Capital Territory and sold them in Kogi State.

Luck ran out on them a few weeks ago when Illia accosted a man along the road in the Garki area of Abuja and dispossessed him of N 450 , 000 and two phones .

The victim had reportedly parked by the roadside to urinate when Illia attacked him .

Illia , who could not drive , was said to have fled with the man ’ s car key and taken it to Mubi ’ s house , where it was later recovered by the police .

A manhunt was launched for Illia by operatives of Inspector – General of Police Intelligence Response Team after the man reported the incident .

Illia , our correspondent learnt, was tracked down through one of the phones he allegedly collected from the man . He subsequently led detectives to arrest Mudi .

Speaking to City Round during the week , 25 -year – old Mudi said he was introduced to robbery in 2012 by a friend , who assured him that he would make more money in the act than working as a native doctor .

He said , “ I am a native doctor and I treat people of stroke , broken bones and other illnesses . I was living in Lokoja , Kogi State until 2012 when one of my friends in Lagos State introduced me to carjacking . He said the ‘ business ’ would fetch me more money than treating people .

“ He taught me how to drive and we started removing people ’ s cars at parks . My friend had a master key which we used to steal cars at nightclubs . I was arrested during one of our operations and charged to court . I spent four years in prison before I was released on bail . I relocated to Abuja in 2016 and started treating people again. ”

He said Illia came to him for treatment of gonorrhoea early this year and in the course of their chats , they came up with the idea of carjacking .

“ Illia then suggested that we should get military uniform . We wore the uniform to bus stops at night . We flagged down any neat cab and after we entered , we would point toy guns at the driver and force him to stop the vehicle . We would collect his money and drive off . We normally received between N 120 , 000 and N 150 , 000 for each vehicle we sold , ” he added .

Illia explained that he went into robbery after he lost his security work at a Federal ministry in Abuja .

He confessed to have stolen several phones , adding that it was Mudi who introduced him to carjacking .

He said , “ I was a security guard . I became desperate after I lost my job and I started robbing people of their phones . I usually went out very early in the morning . I attacked people whose vehicles broke down or who were working alone. I dispossessed them of their valuables including phones and money . I later met Mudi , who introduced me to carjacking . We carjacked three vehicles together and Mudi got a buyer for the cars .

“ Sometime in November , I sighted a man urinating along the road in the Garki area around 5 am while his car was parcked by the roadside. I approached him and pointed a toy gun at him . I found N 450 , 000 and two phones in his vehicle and took them away . ”

Illia said he fled with the man ’ s car key for fear that he might chase him , adding that he sold the two phones for N 10 , 000 .

The 30 – year -old native of Lokoja claimed that he took the car key to Mudi and gave him N 5 , 000 to help him prepare a charm that would discourage the man from going after him .

He added , “ I then went on a spending spree . I bought clothes for my girlfriend and furnished my house with part of the money . It was somebody I sold one of the phones to who led the police to arrest me and I took the police to Mudi ’ s house . ”