Robber shoots self while fleeing from scene

The Oyo State Police Command on Tuesday paraded two armed robbery suspects who were caught after one of them accidentally shot himself in the lap.

Idowu Peters, who is from Edo State, Segun Babalola and another man who is at large, had robbed a house on Rafiu Adetola Street, Aromolaran in the Agugu area of Ibadan on November 8.

They succeeded in stealing a laptop, mobile telephones and jewellery from their victims at gun point.

However, Peters was said to have shot himself in the lap with a locally-made pistol used in the robbery. It was said he was putting the gun in his pocket when it accidentally fired. He was abandoned by his accomplices who also took the gun from him.

The state Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Ndabawa, added that Babalola was arrested when he attempted to use the gun to rob a motorcyclist along Sawmill area of Ibadan.

He said, “He was caught while trying to rob a motorcyclist two days after he escaped from a robbery scene in Ibadan. We are looking for the third member.”

Peters told our correspondent that he was arrested when a policeman saw him in a pool of blood, adding that he bought the gun for the purpose of the robbery.

“While trying to escape the robbery scene, the gun I was holding went off and hit my lap. I fell and waited until the following morning in a bush. But while limping off in the morning, a policeman saw that my trousers were stained with blood and arrested me. I bought the gun in Ijagba, Edo State for N16,000. The seller gave me bullets too,” he said.

His partner, Segun, said he was trying to come up with a way to help Peters when he was caught with the gun.

“We left him somewhere around the scene of the robbery after he was injured. In the morning, I went to airport area in Ibadan to find solution to his problem but somehow, I was caught by the police. I think someone must have given then information about me,” he said.