Chioma Ezekwesili:A unilag student who led a gang of armed robbers

Female UNILAG Law School
Graduate Arrested For
Armed Robbery In Lagos
A seven-man robbery gang led
by a woman, Chioma
Ezekwesiri, has been smashed
by the Special Anti-Robbery
Squad, SARS, in Lagos,
southwest Nigeria. The
robbery suspects were
arrested while attempting to
rob Bolatito Hotel, Kola Bus
Stop, Ijaiye, Lagos. In chat with
P.M.NEWS, Chioma said she
arranged for the guns with
Raymond Chukwuka, a.k.a.
Stubborn, they were to use for
the operation, which she
claimed was a land matter,
whereas the police said that
their mission was allegedly to
rob a male customer of the
hotel, who sells fertilizer, of
about N8 million. Other
suspected members of the
gang are: Amadi Igwe, 41,
Raymond Chukwuka, 24,
Ignatius Okeredi, 27, Michael
Madu, 52, and Okechukwu
Jerome, 28, and a yet-to-be
identified member who is at
large.
The alleged robbery operation,
according to the police, was
foiled by some staff of the
hotel, who promptly made a
distress call to SARS
operatives. The law
enforcement agents were said
to have surrounded the hotel,
and later searched all its
occupants. It was in the
process that two locally made
guns and 12 live ammunition
were recovered from the
robbery suspects. “We
received a distress call from a
staff of Bolatito Hotel, who
said they suspected some
people around the hotel. The
Special Anti-Robbery Squad
moved in, surrounded the
place and demanded to search
everybody.
It was in the process that two
guns and 12 live ammunition
were recovered in Chioma’s
car. This led to the arrest of all
her gang members,” a top
police source told P.M.NEWS.
Following their arrest and
conclusion of investigation,
the police took them to court.
Chioma, 35, who claimed to be
a Law graduate from the
University of Lagos, was
remanded in prison custody
along with six other members
of her gang by Magistrate A.O.
Komolafe of the Magistrates’
Court, Ikeja. They are facing a
three count charge of robbery,
conspiracy and unlawful
possession of firearms.
Chioma claimed that she
graduated from UNILAG in
1999, was called to the bar in
2000, and owns a Non-
Governmental Organisation,
Youth of All Nations
Empowerment Association. But
authorities of the University of
Lagos said she did graduate
from that institution. An
officer of the school, who
craved anonymity, said
Chioma cannot claim to be an
alumnus of the university if
she cannot provide her
matriculation number. “The
fact that she claimed to have
gone to Law School with the
first batch is not substantial
enough. UNILAG usually sends
graduating students at a
stretch, not in batches. My
position on the issue is that
she did not graduate from
UNILAG, and so she was not
our student,” the officer said.
Chioma’s claim of being called
to the Bar was also debunked
by Barrister Tunji Busari of
Cognate Solicitors, who
explained that “we have a
directory for all lawyers. We
have all their names with the
year they were called to bar,
with their NBA registration
numbers. When I checked
through her name in the
directory, I could not find her
name in my record book.”
When our reporter called Mr.
J.E. Joshua, the chairman of
Youth of All Nations
Empowerment Association, he
denied that Chioma is the
founder of the association.
“She just participated in a
charity work which the
association embarked on in
April, and promised to
participate fully in other
projects of the NGO. But we
decided to stop working with
her when we realised that she
wasn’t a straight forward
person. She is not working
with us,” Joshua stated. —
Dedeigbo Ayodeji & Sulaimon
Mojeed-Sunni

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