Okolie Joseph, a suspected car snatcher, notorious armed robber has blamed his involvement in robbery on agents of the devil, saying he was lured into it.
Joseph stated this at the Police headquarters, Asaba, Delta State where he was paraded alongside others by the Police commissioner, Alkali Baba Usman.
“I was lured into armed robbery by bad friends. In fact, these friends are agents of the devil. So, I can correctly say that the devil initiated me into armed robbery. This very robbery, I never participated in it. I only gave information on the woman (the victim) while others who are smarter than me, now at large, did the robbery.
“I was in a terrible situation, so I went to my friends for help but none of them could help, instead they asked me to join them in what they do and use my sense and hands to get the financial help I was asking for. Having no other option for financial assistance, they introduced me to armed robbery, particularly snatching of cars.
“Being a first timer, I refused to follow them to the action ground. So, they put me in their intelligence gathering unit and that was how I gave them information on the victim, who stays in the same area with me in Warri, Delta State.
“After I gave the information, I went my way while they carried out the operation. They targeted the victim as she was going out because I had given them detailed information about her.
“So, they trailed her, blocked her at gun point and robbed her of her Lexus Jeep RX 350, but I don’t know how they got the plasma television sets in the car.
“After they snatched the car, they called me and said that they had done their own side of the job and that the remaining job was to drive the car to Lagos, Benin or Onitsha where they intended to sell it,” he explained.
Continuing, he said: “Having it in mind to raise some money from the sale of the stolen car, and in serious financial captivity, I obliged and agreed to drive the car to where they asked me to take the car to, then I was arrested”.