Why we torture our male victims, by female robbery suspects

Nneka and Ifoma

A female robbery suspect arrested by operatives of the Special  Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Lagos State Police Command has confessed that she and her female accomplices derived joy from torturing their male victims because they were once victims of robbery attacks perpetrated by some men.
 Answering questions from our correspondent penultimate Friday, Nneka Orji, a 27-year-old indigene of Otolo Nnewi, Anambra State, said: “I am not an armed robber because we did not operate with gun.  Ours was more of brain works. We obtained by false pretence, otherwise  called 419.
“I had been a victim of the crime for which we were arrested. I was tortured and nearly raped. But for the leg kick I gave to one of the criminals who attempted to rape me after the gang had duped me of my life savings, I would have been raped. 
“If I mention the amount, you would not believe me. I have fallen victim to many wicked men. Some who said they wanted to marry me later became gold diggers and abandoned me after milking me dry. These wicked acts made me to hate men, especially the criminally-minded ones.
“However, God gave me a reliable fiancé. His name is Mr. Okey Holland from Nnewi. He travelled to Holand on a business trip and we hope to  do our traditional marriage and a society wedding the moment he returns from Holland.“For now, I reside with my uncle, one Mr. Ikechukwu Ndu of No. 14, College Road, Ogba. He knows that I am into 419 business.
“I was arrested for armed robbery when we did not rob with arms. In fact, what we did was not armed robbery. It was a common 419 deal. Why it looked like armed robbery was that our victim, a lady, jumped out of our operational vehicle, shouting ole! ole!! (robber! robber!!), which attracted an irate mob and the police at Alausa (Lagos). We were arrested and handed over to SARS.
“The officer in charge of SARS, SP Abba Kyari, even instructed the investigating police officer, Coporal Ediga Augustine, not to put us in confirmed armed robbery cell until he had finished the investigation. Our business is to defraud people. We are not armed robbers.”Asked what role he played in the gang, she said: “My role is very clear. I played the role of a catcher. I speak the word to the victim and if it catches him or her, others will start working on him or her.
“For instance, if a victim enters our cab, my role is to open up a discussion by speaking the word, like telling him or her that we had dollars in the vehicle or that a foreigner or an Alhaji wanted his dog to sleep with me but I ended stealing plenty of dollars from him before I escaped. I would tell the passenger that the problem was how to change it or where to take it to.
“If the passenger is foolish and expressed interest, we would start working  on him or her. But if he or she did not show interest, we would drop him. I was also a victim before I joined them.”Asked how they were able to torture men without guns, she said they used to push stubborn men out of their  vehicle while in motion, making them to sustain serious injuries.
“At times, we would pull their manhood with our hands until they felt serious pains and made forced promise to the gang not to involve the police,” she added.Her alleged accomplice, Ifeoma Efe (26), a native of Ogior village in Udu Local Government Area, Delta State, said: “I reside at No. 20 Oremeji Street, Ojodu/Berger area of Lagos. I was a hairdresser and victim of 419 before I joined the gang. 
“I was defrauded of my life savings, including the money I had wanted to open a hair dressing salon with. “I attended Ufomma Primary School, Sapele, Delta State and Army Cantonment Secondary School, Ikeja, where I dropped out at junior secondary due to financial problems. I am an orphan. 
“I was impregnated by one Mr. Sampson Ojo from Ibilo in Edo State, who was then a Coaster bus driver while I hawked oranges. I met him in Isheri area of Lagos. He bought oranges from me and dated me for eight months  before I took in.“He advised me to go for abortion to get rid of the pregnancy, but I refused and gave birth to a baby girl and named her Rejoice. 
“A year and six months later, I was again impregnated by the same Ojo, and the baby boy was named Gabriel by my aunt. “I have a younger brother called Matthew in the village. I am living with my aunt called Miss Independence at Costain area, by the railway.”On why she joined the gang she said: “I was a victim before I joined them. They collected N10,000 from me. The gang was a different group but from the same general office in Isheri.” 
Asked the role she played in the gang, she said: “I am the carton girl; one who carries the fake dollars just to deceive the people. The victim who put us in this trouble, we carried her at the bus stop like a normal passenger. Two members of our gang who we planted at the bus stop also entered with her.
“I started saying: ‘I was the prostitute Alhaji asked to sleep with his dog but I refused and he started beating me. I pretended that I had lost consciousness and he went outside to bring his dog  to use me, but I grabbed his bag of dollars and ran away. If I change it to naira, it is worth  more than nine million naira.’“As I wanted to say that I needed somebody to help me change the dollars to naira, the girl opened the car door and jumped out. It was like she had heard the story before.
“I started this business in November 2011 after fallen victim. We realised N15,000 from the first job and I was given N1,500. The second job fetched us N30,000 and I was given N3,000. The third job fetched us N24,000 and I was given N2,400. It was the fourth job that put us in SARS’ net. We did not get a kobo from it because it failed.”
The third suspect, Chukwuemeka Uzor, aged 39 is from Ohafia, Abia State but resides at Shangisha in Ketu area of Lagos.He said: “I am a commercial bus driver. I ply all routes in Lagos. The bus I was driving had an accident and I became jobless. It was one of my friends called Innocent, a driver I had run to for financial assistance, who advised me to join the group and help myself out of excruciating poverty. He bought a bus with the proceeds of 419 and died in a fatal accident with the bus.
“I played the role of a common passenger who joined in arguments to convince our victims. The 419 jobs did not pay me at all. In the first operation, I followed them to Alausa, Ikeja. It involved a female victim. We ended up not getting a kobo from her. We did not know that she was a prostitute. She was following us and giving her body to us until we became fed up with her and drove her away.“The second job was the one that exposed us to SARS.  If I survive this one, I will take the next bus to my village. I don’t want to die now. I will go home straight if I regain my freedom.“The job we did was 419, not armed robbery. The female victim just jumped out and people started calling us ole (robber). 
“Please, help us to beg SP Kyari. We don’t understand what the IPO is investigating. We are suspecting that he wants to transfer us to confirmed armed robbers’ cell today. Please tell them that we are common criminals and would like to remain in common criminals’ cell till we are charged to court. Do it for us, please.”The fourth suspect, Augustine Ibeneme (58), a native of Afara village, Umuahia Local Government Area, Abia State, said: “I am a driver. My route is Aba to Port Harcourt. I had a problem with my bus, so I relocated to Lagos to hustle for money to buy a new bus.
“Already, some people had told me that I could get a fairly used bus very cheaply in Lagos, and that, if I hustled well, I could make the money within one year.“I was thinking of the job I would do to get about N500,000 a year when I met a new friend in Lagos. I have forgotten his name. He introduced me to the leader of a 419 syndicate, who said he  would help me to get a new bus. But they duped me and collected all the money I came to Lagos with, such that I found it difficult to feed my family. 
“I am married with nine children. Hunger left my family so devastated that I had no choice but to join them. My situation worsened when the guy travelled abroad. I then joined a man called Eze with office at Magodo. So, I am a fraudster, not an armed robber.”Asked why he was arrested, he said: “I was going to Ikeja from Seven UP area and was with Ifoma when Nneka, Chuhkwuemeka and the victim entered my car.
“On our way, close to Eleganza, I told Ifoma that the N150 I charged her was too small and she said she would pay only N50 or come down. I told her that it was better for her to come down if she would not pay what I had charged. She started begging me, saying she was sleeping with one Alhaji who hired her for a night but wanted his dog to sleep with her. But she said she escaped with the Alhaji’s $10,000 when he went to the backyard to unchain his dog.
“I was with the female victim in the front seat and she looked worried as if she was in the midst of hardened criminals. Before I knew it, she had opened the door and made to jump out. But because the vehicle was on motion, I tried to march the brakes so that she would not wound herself or even die.“Unfortunately, other drivers noticed the drama and blocked my car with theirs. That slowed me down and she jumped out before they  blocked me. 
“Passers-by and other motorists who gathered there asked whether I was the one who pushed her down and I said no. As I was answering them, the policemen from Alausa came and took us to their station. That was on Friday March 10, 2012.  We were given papers to write statements and were later bundled into the cell.
“On Monday March 12, 2012, I found myself and other members of the gang at the SARS headquarters on Works Road, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos.”Explaining the role he played in the gang, he said: “I played double roles. I was the field commander. I reported to the ‘chairman’ in office. My second role was to drive the car.”
Asked why a poor man like him would breed nine children, he said: “I did not intend to have many children. My wife was giving me female children until God gave me two boys. “According to our tradition,  women are not counted as steady property. They are moveable property, and even men who want to move them have started hanging around and whistling. But boys or men cannot be moved. Therefore, I stopped when I got two boys. If not, I would have continued.
“I thank God for everything. I have found out in the little time I have spent in crime that it does not pay. The money one even gets from crime brings trouble and you would never see any good thing you do with the money. “My only fear is that we may be transferred to confirmed armed robbers’ cell in SARS building, given the way the IPO, Corporal Edigar, is going about it.
“The victim jumped out of the car due to fear, but SARS is seeing the woman’s fear as fear of armed robbers. We have been trying to convince the IPO that we are not armed robbers, but he is insisting that only the presence of armed robbers, kidnappers or ritualists can put fear in a woman victim.”