11-Yr Old Boy Arrested For Robbery in Calabar

An 11- year old boy (name withheld) was arrested yesterday for armed robbery.
The boy, with a gang of at least 20 robbers, raided several streets in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, southsouth Nigeria, dispossessing people, especially ladies, of their handsets, necklaces and handbags.
“They started robbing people from Atamunu Street to Mayne Avenue, Okpo Ene Atu and escaped through Target Street to Bogobiri, where I suspect they went to sell their stolen items,” Glory Eyo, a civil servant, whose handset was snatched by the gang told our correspondent.

It was gathered that the robbers were armed with guns and machetes and started the operation at about 3 p.m. They went from one street to another unchallenged and snatched about 40 handsets.
Eyewitnesses said those who attempted to stop them were attacked.
“When my sister told me her phone had been snatched by a gang of young robbers, I went outside and I saw them moving towards Mayne Avenue from Okpo Ene. I ran after them and when I got close and shouted at them to stop, one of them pointed gun at me and said, ‘I will shoot you if you come closer’. So I had to retreat,” John Ekong told a correspondent.
The gang ended their operation at Atu by Goldie, where they picked second hand bags being sold by a lady, Fostina Thompson. By that time people had mobilised and given them a hot chase. While others escaped, the youngster was caught by the mob.
“When we went after them, they fled for safety at Target Street. While some escaped through the back streets, I caught the boy when he wanted to enter Mary Magdaline Street. I put a stud on him and he stumbled and the knife fell from his hand,” Ebayi Oden, who caught the suspected kid robber said.
The robber had a deep machete cut at the back of his head and was bleeding profusely.
He was about to be set ablaze by the mob when police from the Atakpa Police Station arrived and took him away.
The boy confessed that the phones they steal are sold to a baba at Bogobiri, a community where the Hausas dwell in Calabar.