Chioma Ezekwesiri: UNILAG Law Graduate? Led A Robbery Gang?

A seven-man robbery gang led by a woman, Chioma
Ezekwesiri, has been smashed by the Special Anti-
Robbery Squad, SARS, in Lagos, southwest Nigeria. The
robbery suspects were arrested while attempting to rob
Bolatito Hotel, Kola Bus Stop, Ijaiye, Lagos. In chat with
P.M.NEWS, Chioma said she arranged for the guns with
Raymond Chukwuka, a.k.a. Stubborn, they were to use
for the operation, which she claimed was a land matter,
whereas the police said that their mission was allegedly
to rob a male customer of the hotel, who sells fertilizer,
of about N8 million. Other suspected members of the
gang are: Amadi Igwe, 41, Raymond Chukwuka, 24,
Ignatius Okeredi, 27, Michael Madu, 52, and Okechukwu
Jerome, 28, and a yet-to-be identified member who is
at large.
The alleged robbery operation, according to the police,
was foiled by some staff of the hotel, who promptly
made a distress call to SARS operatives. The law
enforcement agents were said to have surrounded the
hotel, and later searched all its occupants. It was in the
process that two locally made guns and 12 live
ammunition were recovered from the robbery suspects.
“We received a distress call from a staff of Bolatito
Hotel, who said they suspected some people around the
hotel. The Special Anti-Robbery Squad moved in,
surrounded the place and demanded to search
everybody.
It was in the process that two guns and 12 live
ammunition were recovered in Chioma’s car. This led to
the arrest of all her gang members,” a top police source
told P.M.NEWS. Following their arrest and conclusion of
investigation, the police took them to court. Chioma, 35,
who claimed to be a Law graduate from the University
of Lagos, was remanded in prison custody along with
six other members of her gang by Magistrate A.O.
Komolafe of the Magistrates’ Court, Ikeja. They are
facing a three count charge of robbery, conspiracy and
unlawful possession of firearms.
Chioma claimed that she graduated from UNILAG in
1999, was called to the bar in 2000, and owns a Non-
Governmental Organisation, Youth of All Nations
Empowerment Association. But authorities of the
University of Lagos said she did graduate from that
institution. An officer of the school, who craved
anonymity, said Chioma cannot claim to be an alumnus
of the university if she cannot provide her matriculation
number. “The fact that she claimed to have gone to
Law School with the first batch is not substantial
enough. UNILAG usually sends graduating students at a
stretch, not in batches. My position on the issue is that
she did not graduate from UNILAG, and so she was not
our student,” the officer said. Chioma’s claim of being
called to the Bar was also debunked by Barrister Tunji
Busari of Cognate Solicitors, who explained that “we
have a directory for all lawyers. We have all their names
with the year they were called to bar, with their NBA
registration numbers. When I checked through her name
in the directory, I could not find her name in my record
book.” When our reporter called Mr. J.E. Joshua, the
chairman of Youth of All Nations Empowerment
Association, he denied that Chioma is the founder of the
association. “She just participated in a charity work
which the association embarked on in April, and
promised to participate fully in other projects of the
NGO. But we decided to stop working with her when we
realised that she wasn’t a straight forward person. She
is not working with us,” Joshua stated. —Dedeigbo
Ayodeji & Sulaimon Mojeed-Sunni