he seems to have lost his calling. How?
He is a self confessed first time armed
robber in Lagos. But his first calling,
according to him, is winning souls for
Christ. Speaking with Saturday Mirror
on his involvement in the crime,
Ambrose, who claimed the outing that
led to his arrest was his first
experience, said he only went out with
the gang because he needed money to
feed himself:
"It was true that we went to rob
that day, but that was my first
time out. They caught the car
with us at Ojota. Let me tell you
that it was temptation that
pushed me into robbery, as I was
not known to have robbed before
now. I only agreed to follow them
because I needed some money to
eat ."
This is my question: how does our
government expect young men without
jobs to feed? Is it possible for any one
to go on for several weeks and months
without food because he doesn't have a
job? Why not create some kind of social
security scheme for the millions of
youths who are jobless and on the
streets...
According to Ambrose, if he had his
way, he would love to preach the word
and win souls for the Kingdom of God.
Ambrose, a 20-year-old secondary
school dropout, claimed that his dream
right from his childhood days was to be
a Pastor. But, if found guilty of his
current offence, Ambrose's dreams
might have to wait a little longer while
he served his term behind bars.
Ambrose and his partners in crime,
however, chose a symbolic day and
time to carry out their crime: March 5,
2014, (being the first day of Lenten
period) the Ash Wednesday.
Thus in the wee hours of the day, the
gang invaded some estates in Egbeda,
Lagos. It was that time of day that
some Christians, especially Catholic
faithful were rushing for the Ash
Wednesday Mass quite before going for
their different businesses.
While these residents were rushing to
their churches and offices, the robbers
reportedly invaded the community,
moving from one house to another.
While the robbery lasted, many
residents had to part with their
valuables including jewellery, telephone
handsets, large amount of money,
laptop computers and many other
things. One of the victims of the robber
was a don, Professor Benjamin Nwaneri,
a resident of the estate.
But while other victims of the attack
were only made to part with their
personal effects, the university teacher
suffered more than his co-residents.
While rounding off their operation, the
robbers noticed Nwaneri advancing
towards them in his Toyota Camry car.
The armed robbers upon noticing the
advancing car held it up at gun point.
Within minutes, he was disposed of the
car while the robbers immediately
loaded their loot into it and sped off. At
that moment, some men of the Federal
Anti-Robbery Squad, Adeniji-Adele,
Lagos who were on patrol around Ojota
area of the state noticed the stolen car
advancing towards them.
It was reported that the anti robbery
policemen engaged the suspected
armed robbers in gun duel until they
abandoned the vehicle and their loot.
Three of them reportedly escaped the
attack while Ambrose was not so lucky.
He was immediately picked up while a
manhunt was launched for his fleeing
partners-in-crime.
The search for Ambrose's partners was
not delayed as one of the gang, later
identified as Audu Akeem, was noticed
trying to escape with a motorcycle.
With a threat to have him shot dead
should he attempt to run away, Akeem
was also arrested and both of them
whisked to the offices of the anti-
robbery squad.
Investigations revealed that Akeem,
who lives close to the area where the
gang carried out their operation, was
the mole that sold his community to
the robbers, being a member of the
gang himself.
Speaking on his pastoral ambition,
Ambrose continued amid tears: "If I
am given the opportunity, I want the
police to release me to go back to my
normal life where I can preach the
Word of God to people particularly
robbers to accept Christ.
"My dream in life was to be a Pastor
and preach the Word. So If I could be
pardoned and allowed to choose my life
again, I will live a good and righteous
life and win souls for God. I want to go
back and start a church".
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