Robbers, Police Disagree Over Use Of Toy Guns For Operations
CYRIACUS IZUEKWE
Some suspected robbers arrested with toy guns during operations in Lagos have disagreed with the Nigeria Police for describing them as armed robbers.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that mostly affected were traffic robbers who lamented that they were harmless as they only made use of toy guns and did not cause any harm to victims.
According to some of the suspects paraded, they claimed that they do not have access to real guns because the police had through constant raids depleted their armoury and they were merely using the toy guns for harassment and not to inflict injury on the victims.
However, the police debunked their claims and insisted that any suspect found with a toy gun was an armed robber and will be treated as such.
This was the submission of the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Imohimi Edgal, at the Command in Ikeja, Lagos.
The police boss noted the arrest of armed criminal elements that had the belief that the guns were not real fire arms; as such they were not armed robbers. He explained that any form of weapon used with the criminal intent to dispose the victim with force was armed robbery and any suspect found with such objects will be charged for armed robbery. He used the opportunity to warn criminals to change, engage themselves in meaningful jobs and be useful to the society.
P.M.EXPRESS had observed that most of the suspects paraded were seen with toy guns and only a few with real fire arms and investigations were carried out to find why it was so.
Findings showed that there had been massive clamp down on the criminals and their weapons recovered by the police. It was on the basis of that, that the suspects resorted to the use of plastic guns for their operations. But the police have declared that both the real guns and the toys were the same and such offence will be treated as armed robbery.
P.M.EXPRESS also confirmed the position of the police as most of the suspects charged to court for using toy guns were referred to DPP, found culpable and thereafter referred to the High Court for felony/armed robbery.
