Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) has arrested suspected members of a cross-border armed robbery, gun smuggling and car hijacking syndicate.

The group, whose members were both Nigerians and Benin Republic nationals, allegedly specialised in robbing Lagos residents and moving the loot, especially exotic vehicles, to Benin where they are sold at giveaway prices.

While some members of the syndicate were already in prison in Nigeria and Benin, four suspects were last week apprehended by detectives of the elite unit following after an attack on a man’s residence at Ajah, Lagos where they carted away his Mercedes GLK, a Lexus SUV, diamond jewellery worth millions of naira, an iPhone and other valuables.

Those arrested included Adebabatunde Okunola, 31, Ismaila Suraju, 27, Sunday Oni, 27, and Suru Odugbile, 50.

Suspected leader of the gang, Okunola, said they worked with buyers in Benin Republic through a middleman, Odugbile.

He said each time they hijacked vehicles from the owners, he and his members would drive them to a border community where Odugbile would take over, change the plate numbers to that of Benin Republic and move them into that country where their accomplices would carry the vehicles and hand over the money and weapons to Odugbile to bring to them.

Okunola, a former commercial bus driver, said he took to armed robbery and car snatching in January following an invitation from one Dada, now incarcerated, who he met around Alaba International.

He said: “I used to drive a danfo bus. I knew Dada but didn’t knw he was an armed robber until January when he invited me to start driving stolen vehicles from Lagos to Alari, a border community with Benin Republic. He told me we will snatch the vehicle from the owner and immediately move it to Benin Republic where his partners will pay us and carry the vehicle.

“I agreed to it because I was not making much money as danfo driver. We snatched the first vehicle at Alaba. I drove the vehicle to his contact who took over. We were inside the vehicle till it got to Cotonou and he was given money. I don’t know how much they gave him but he gave me N140,000.

“It was attractive. That was the first time I was seeing such amount of money and so, I was excited. After two weeks, he called again that we had another operation. We collected a Toyota Muscle around Mile Two and were driving towards the border when it stopped around Agbara. We abandoned it there.”