Juliana Francis
A 14-year-old boy, identified as Gift Peace, has told detectives attached to Delta State Police Command, that he started robbery when he was just seven years old.
The suspect was among three teenagers arrested for robbery in the state.
The two other suspects have been identified as Idigbe Osreis (19) and Idigbe Perfect (16).
The Delta State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Bright Edafe said: “Gift Peace confessed to being a member of an armed robbery gang that terrorizes Warri and its environs; and that he has been in the act since he was seven years old. He mentioned other members and thus took the detectives to their hideout.”
According to the Police image maker, on the 29th of September, the DPO ‘B’ Division Warri received a distress call about an armed robbery operation at Giwamu Junction Warri, during the attack, one police undercover operative was at the scene and sighted one of the suspects and later trailed him to a Suya spot at Enerhen Junction.
Edafe said: “The DPO ‘B’ Warri SP Bolarinwa Alabi acting on the directive of the Delta State Commissioner of Police CP Wale Abass, embarked on an intelligence-led operation alongside his men and arrested 14 years at the said Suya spot at Enerhen junction.
“The gang members upon sighting the police opened fire from their unregistered operational tricycle and the due response was given to their hostility, and in the process, one of the suspects who was later identified as the leader of the gang sustained serious gunshot injuries while others escaped.
“He was taken to the hospital where he was eventually confirmed dead by the doctor. The exhibit recovered includes the following: the operational tricycle of the gang, one locally made cut-to-size single barrel gun with stocked expended cartridges, and three live cartridges. Two male gang members: Idigbe Osreis (19) and Idigbe Perfect (16) were later arrested at their hideout. Efforts are ongoing to arrest the fleeing member, and also to recover more of their operation arms.”
The Delta State Commissioner of Police CP Wale Abass, while emphasizing the necessity of adequate parenting as an essentiality in the fight against crime, advices that parents should be alive to their responsibilities, and safeguard the future of their wards by monitoring and teaching them valuable precautionary lessons that will help them avoid bad companies and hence stay away from criminal activities.
