A 30-year-old Togolese cook who robbed his master barely 24hours after he was employed has been arrested by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Police Command.
The suspect, Francis Kpoya, who was employed by a top government official at Apo Area, Abuja, connived with five of his friends to steal the safe containing huge sums of foreign currencies and other documents.
The Togolese who is now cooling off in police cell alongside his colleagues, said they took the safe to a bush at Mapape where they broke it open and discovered the loot and other important documents, which they threw away.
Inside the safe was a whooping $22,000, which they shared and parted ways. Because of the weight of the safe, he said he had to invite his fellow Togolese brothers. He also invited a mason, a carpenter and an iron bender to make the breaking of the safe easier.
The suspect who attributed his act to the devil, said he discovered the safe after his master took him on a familiar tour of the house after agreeing to pay him N40,000 monthly salary.
On how he accessed his master’s bedroom and made away with the safe, he said he had to play a fast one on the Reverend Sister living in the compound who had the keys.
He said he lied to her that the boss left his room lights on and collected the keys from her to go and switch it off. But instead of switching off the lights, he opened the door and did not lock it to enable him have access for a smooth operation.
After handing over the keys to the Reverend sister, he then lied to people in the compound that he was going to take his master’s clothes to the dry cleaner from where he contacted his friends:
“After seeing the safe in the man’s room, I was sure there was money inside. So when the man travelled, I went to meet the reverend sister who had the keys to the house, she was on the phone and handed the keys to me. I went up, opened the door and removed the keys and gave them back to her.
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“Around 8 O’clock when there was nobody, I called my friends and they brought a taxi and we carried the safe to Mpape. We broke it open with a very big hammer and other instruments and found some documents, international passport and the sum of $22,000.
“We took the money and shared among ourselves. From there I went to change $800, with which I bought a mobile phone and some clothes and ran away.”
On how he was arrested, he said he was at home when policemen stormed his house and got him arrested:
“I came to Nigeria in 2008, and I have been working as a chef and worked in several places before this incident happened. This is my first time I have never done this before. What happened was that the devil visited me that day and I regret this terrible act.”
Police said all the suspects involved in the operation have been arrested and the broken safe recovered without the international passport and other documents. The police added that they are still carrying out investigations after which the suspects would be charged to court.
THE SUN, NIGERIA