How Security Guard, 2 Others Stole N23m Jewellery & Eventually Sold It For N1m

A private security guard to a shop in Ikeja, Lagos and two others are currently being investigated by men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) for stealing gold jewellery worth 23 Million Naira and more than 100,000 Naira cash.
According to preliminary investigation carried out by men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, the primary suspect known as Moses Obande allegedly applied and secured a job as a security guard with a fake address and an unregistered SIM card, which made it difficult for anyone to trail him after the crime.
According to information made available to the Vanguard, Obande was charged for murder and kidnap of an unidentified woman some years back while he was a member of a syndicate in Sagamu area of Ogun State.
Reports said Obande worked for the owner of the shop that was burgled, Mrs Ekong between October and December 2013. During the course of working with her, he was said to have contracted two other security guards in the persons of Ogbulaja Ogaba and Izechukwu Ezeobi, to enable him break into the jewellery store located on Unity Road, off Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way.
Obande told the Vanguard why he committed the crime, continue reading:
I found it difficult to secure a job because I am a secondary school drop-out. So, I decided to use a fake address to apply for security job last October, where I was paid N17, 000 per month. But the money was not enough to fend for my wife and two children.
At a point, a devilish thought came into my mind to burgle my boss shop. I contacted two of my friends to assist and we went to buy chemicals which we poured on the wall. We left with the intention of coming back at midnight. By then the portion we poured the chemical would have weakened, thereby allowing us easy passage.
But I did not wait for them to arrive before I broke into the shop. I went alone for two reasons: to get the largest share of the loot and to prevent a situation whereby their movement would attract people.
I also decided to do it alone because I had earlier carried out similar burglary where I was a guard. I made away with gold chains and a cash of N108,000. I kept the cash to myself and gave 35 neck chains (gold) to Ogaba while I took the remaining to Yaba market where I sold them for N1,105,000.
The original price was more than that. The person that bought it from me cheated me by cutting off the price tags on them. Some of them had price tags between N250,000 and N350,000. The least was N75,000.
Ogaba told me he sold the 35 pieces I gave to him for N80,000 to one Jubril Garba. But I know he lied. But I did not argue with him. I told him that was his share.
After the sales, I immediately moved my family to Benue State. I opened a hair dressing saloon for my wife and invested the rest in plank business. When my wife asked where I got the money from, I told her I was paid off at my place of work.
Immediately, I destroyed the unregistered SIM card my boss was used to and started life afresh with a promise never to delve into crime again.
I paid my siblings WAEC fees with the proceeds, he said.
Obande was however, arrested in his hometown eight months after the crime was committed. His arrest was made possible by the confessional statement made by one of his alleged partners in crime who teamed up with him to commit the crime, Ogbulaja Ogaba.
While narrating his own side of the story, Ogaba denied partaking in the crime, but admitted he got the sum of 80,000 Naira.
I only got N80,000 but did not partake in the operation. Obande initially invited me to assist him burgle the gold supermarket.
On the day in question, December 22, 2013, he later called me to meet him in a hotel where he gave me 35 pieces of jewellery to sell. I was yet to finish selling it when he called me on the phone that he was leaving Lagos for his home town.
When I asked him about the money with me, he said I should have fun with it. I ended up using it to pay for my siblings West Africa Examinations Council, WAEC examination fees.
Another suspect who was also arrested in connection with the crime, Izuchukwu Ezeobi also denied taking part in the operation. He however, admitted that: My job was just to provide a buyer. I did not even collect a kobo at the end.
All three suspects would soon be charged to court according to the police.