Some armed robbers have invaded the Ajah home of
comic Nollywood actor, Mr. John Okafor, aka Mr Ibu, stealing his
property.
The victim, who was away at the time of the
incident, was said to have left behind his wife, grandmother, housemaid and
children, who were sleeping when the hoodlums struck.
Latest Reality Metro learnt that the
assailants gained entry through an opening in the house, which was under
renovation.
They were said to have held Okafor’s relatives
hostage as they took time to steal cash sums in the house, as well as 12
wristwatches, laptops, phones, jewellery, shoes and clothes, among others.
Our correspondent was told that the assailants
took away all the Automated Teller Machine cards in the house, after forcefully
obtaining the PINs from Okafor’s wife.
The incident was said to have been reported to
the police at the Ajah division.
Okafor’s manager, who wants to be identified only
as Chochoo, confirmed the robbery to our correspondent on Monday,
adding that it occurred around 3am on Saturday.
He noted that although nobody was injured, the
assailants emptied the house of all valuables.
He said, “He (Okafor) was renovating his house
and the burglar-proof bar that was not fixed that day was where they came in
through. Twelve wristwatches, money, all the phones and laptops in the house,
shoes and clothes were stolen. I cannot place a value on the stolen property;
just three of the wristwatches are worth N6.5m. They broke into his room as
well. They took everything in his room.
“When it happened, we had travelled to the east
for some New Year social functions. I guess those people knew none of the men
was around. His wife, children, grandmother and maid were at home. The robbers
were more than six in number.
“They took the wife’s ATM cards and forced her to
release the PINs. Since they left with the phones in the house, she does not
have anything to get debit alerts. We have blocked the accounts today (Monday).
But since the incident happened on Saturday and banks don’t open on Saturdays
and Sundays, we don’t know what could have happened in the intervening period.”
Chochoo told our correspondent that
although suspects had been arrested based on some blurred black and white
images from the Closed-Circuit Television cameras in the house, their
culpability had yet to be established.
He explained that the primary concern of the
family was the recovery of the stolen property.
Okafor was reported to have said that he
suspected that the hoodlums were hired to kill him, adding that they asked for
his whereabouts during the one hour attack.
He also reportedly said the N1m cash meant for
the renovation of his house was stolen.
He valued four of the 12 stolen wristwatches at
N8m, saying the others cost between N300,000 to N500,000.
The comic actor added that his wife’s gold and
jewellery were stolen, noting that four phones he left in the house were taken
away.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP
Chike Oti, confirmed the incident, adding that two of the suspects had been
arrested.
He said, “Two of the suspects were arrested by
our men from the FESTAC division, who were on patrol at the time of the
incident. Two others escaped. The suspects have been transferred to the Special
Anti-Robbery Squad, while investigations are ongoing. Efforts have been
intensified to arrest the fleeing suspects.”
