Operatives of the Akwa Ibom State Police Command have arrested three suspected armed robbers linked to the killing of two police officers, a private security officer and a little boy, at a hotel in Uyo.
The suspects, said to be specialists in destroying ATM machines, were arrested on July 10 by operatives of the Anti-robbery Squad through intelligence.
The police spokesperson in Akwa Ibom, Odiko Macdon, disclosed this at a news conference in Uyo on Friday.
Mr MacDon, a superintendent of police, said the suspects were traced to and arrested at a fast food outlet, Tantalizer, along Abak Road, Uyo, while they were attempting to destroy an ATM machine.
He said the suspects had confessed to their involvement in the killings of the two police officers and the two other victims, the destruction of several ATM machines where they stole at least N26 million, and other crimes.
“On July 10 at about 9:53 a.m., there was a tip-off that some hoodlums had used a welding machine to maliciously destroy the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) of the Oliver Twist branch of Access Bank situated along Brook Street, Uyo, and carted away the sum of N8million.
“Operatives of the Anti-robbery Squad of the command traced the hoodlums to Tantalizer Fast Food situated along Abak Road, Uyo, where they were arrested while attempting to destroy another ATM.
“During interrogation, the suspects confessed to have been involved in the destruction of the Access Bank ATM and robbed the bank of N8 million.
“They also confessed to be responsible for the destruction of the Union Bank ATM and the stealing of N11 million at the College of Education, Afaha Nsit, as well as the robbery at Ikot Ekpene where they stole N7million.”
Mr MacDon said the suspects also owned up to the attack on Jean Juliet Supermarket at Ikot Ekpene Road where they killed a little boy.
He said the suspects admitted that they were also responsible for the attack on Metropolitan Supermarket at Oron Road, the robbery at E-Plus Mates at Atiku Abubakar Avenue, Uyo, and the murder of two policemen at Tranquility Hotel, Nung Oku.
“They were responsible for the robbery at Maya Restaurant at Two Lanes where a private security man was killed and the robbery that took place at R&R Supermarket and the attack on a Sienna bus at Nwaniba, Uyo,” Mr MacDon said.
The police spokesperson also said that five suspects who specialised in armed robbery and car snatching were also arrested by operatives of the Anti-robbery Squad.
He said the items recovered from them include four locally-made pistols, four expended cartridges, one empty shell of AK-47 ammunition and a red Toyota Sienna car with registration number MUS 797 GS.
The spokesperson said the suspects would be arraigned after investigations.
