Operatives of the Rapid Respond Squad of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested two suspects, Victor Remi and Ekeh Maxwell, for allegedly dispossessing a computer dealer of three Apple laptops worth N1.5m.
Remi, a foreign exchange trader, and Maxwell, a musician, were said to have disguised as buyers and lured the seller to a desolate location on Acme Road and dispossessed him of the laptops.
It was gathered that the suspects, who got the contact of their victim on Twitter, sent a message to him and requested two Apple MacBook Pro – 2018 edition laptops.
Remi, a South Africa returnee, in his confessional statement to the police, said, “I told the dealer that I was the managing director of a new company on Acme Road, Ikeja. I also told him that my daughter recommended that his laptops were legit. I ordered one for myself and another for my secretary.
“It took us a week to initiate, perfect and execute our plan. My colleague, Maxwell, borrowed his brother’s Camry car with number plate FKJ 833 EZ for the deal. We bought a toy gun and painted it. I controlled the dealer to Acme Road, because we knew that the area was desolate.
“While Maxwell drove, I sent a message to the dealer on WhatsApp that he should bring the consignment to my office. I told him that my driver would pick him up on Acme Road. We met him there and he boarded the vehicle, while the driver picked me up a few metres from where the dealer boarded the vehicle.
“He was sitting in front with the laptops. I placed the gun on his neck and ordered him to surrender the goods. We wanted to take his phone too, but he pleaded not to be stripped of everything. We told him to alight from the car and we escaped.”
However, it was gathered that Remi lied to his accomplice that two Apple laptops were collected from the dealer and that he sold each for N250,000, whereas he actually sold each for N500,000.
The dealer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, noted that he had no idea that the suspects were robbers.
“One Uche ordered two Apple laptops. We were communicating on WhatsApp and I never had the slightest inkling that they were robbers. They used a gun and knife to dispossess me of the laptops. The three laptops are worth N1.5m,” he stated.
According to the police, the laptops have been recovered from their buyers.
Reacting to the incident, the state Commissioner of Police, Zubairu Muazu, advised Lagos residents to limit the information they post on the social media, adding that criminal elements were exploiting the social media to perpetrate crime.
He restated the commitment of the command to remain unrelenting in the pursuit of criminals in the state.