by Adeola Balogun

A gang of robbers pretending to be policemen went on a rampage during the weekend in the Mowe environs of Ogun.

The robbers, said to be decked in fake police vests, attacked a commercial bus conveying passengers to the Eastern part of the country.

The attackers were said to have been about five in number and one of them has been arrested by operatives of the Special Anti Robbery Squad.

The Eagle Online reports:

The robbery attack was said to have occurred at Mowe Bridge, Ogun State at about 4am on Saturday, after the bus left the motor park to beat traffic.

The bandits, five in number, were said to have been decked out in police vests, later discovered to be made from cartons and painted black to make it look like real police vests.

The five gunmen, wearing their fake police vests and flashing torchlights, were said to have flagged down the bus as it approached the Mowe Bridge.

The driver, thinking they were genuine policemen, and apparently fooled by their police black vests, stopped. The robbers immediately attacked the bus.

They ordered all the passengers down from the bus and robbed them.

After robbing the passengers, they abandoned them along the road and disappeared with the bus, heading inward Lagos State.

One of the occupants of the C.N. Okoli bus, who escaped into the bush immediately the robbers attacked, alerted the police. The occupant gave the police the description of the bus and its registration number.

The description of the bus was quickly radioed to the Lagos State Police Command, which mounted vigilance along the roads.

The bus was finally intercepted at Palm Grove area of Lagos State. Immediately police sighted the bus and flagged it down, the robbers applied the brake and four of them bolted, leaving one of their partners in crime, who was driving the bus, behind.

The driver has been identified as Obuneme Ibe. The C.N Okoli hummer bus, marked XT 760 LSD, white in colour, was recovered and searched. Four fake police vests, made from cartons, were recovered.

Also recovered were one fake police bullet proof vest, two locally made guns, five cartridges, three torchlights, some handsets and N30,000.

Since his arrest, Ibe has been singing like a bird while in SARS custody. He told police that he and his fleeing gang members used to be commercial bike robbers, robbing traders at Liverpool-Apapa, Oyingbo and other parts of the Lagos metropolis.

According to him, since the restriction of commercial bikes in the state, robbing with motorbikes had become pretty difficult.

Thus, the leader of the gang, one Mukaila, brought the idea that they should get cartons, cut it into sizes of police vests and paint them with black paint, with the inscription of police at the front and back.

The game had been working for the gang until the police busted them on Saturday