A dismissed banker, Emmanuel Onuma, has been arrested by the police for breaking into the Automated Teller Machine gallery of his erstwhile employer and stealing N14m.
The 34-year-old was said to have carried out the heist at the Garki, Abuja branch of the new generation bank on October 19, 2018.
Parading Onuma alongside other suspects in Abuja on Wednesday, the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Operations, Federal Capital Territory Police Command, Valentine Olumese, said the ex-banker was dismissed in August for fraudulent activities.
“On November 1, in furtherance of an ongoing investigation, police operatives attached to the Garki Division arrested one Emmanuel Onuma, who broke into the ATM lobby of a bank located in Garki on October 19 at about midnight and stole the sum of N14m,” Olumese stated.
He explained that the suspect confessed that he converted the money to $33,000 in Abuja and Kaduna for ease of movement.
“Upon his arrest, the following amounts of money were recovered from him as exhibits: cash sum of $28,000; N1,650,120 and nine pieces of Ghana cedis. Other exhibits recovered from him include one new SIM card and flight tickets,” the commissioner added.
Onuma, in an interview with journalists, admitted to the crime, stating that he carried out the act because the bank failed to pay his benefits after sacking him.
“I worked with the bank for 11 years and I was not settled; no benefits, no settlement; but there is no justification for doing something wrong,” he stated and declined making further statements.
Meanwhile, the police have also arrested two members of a notorious armed robbery gang, who allegedly robbed and killed one Monday Umoh in July this year.
The suspects, Attah Godwin (aka Jogodo), 33; and Izunna Nwafor, 27, who had been at large, were nabbed at their hideouts in Gwagwa and Deidei areas of the FCT.
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Their arrest, the police said, was sequel to the confession of one Nwore Emmanuel, 27, a member of the syndicate, who linked the two suspects to the crime.
The suspects reportedly picked up Umoh in their cab and midway into the trip, attempted to rob him, leading to a struggle during which the deceased was shot in the chest. His body thrown out of the vehicle and abandoned by the Federal Housing Flyover, Kubwa.
Police investigation also led to the recovery of the victim’s Winco phone, while a green Toyota Carina E car, with number plate FX 138 BWR, used by the suspects as their operational vehicle, was also recovered as an exhibit.
