The Cross River State Police Command have arrested 19 suspects who rob people in commercial vehicles.
The activities popularly referred to as ‘one chance’ is something that has long faced residents of Calabar.
According to the police, their mode of operation was that they act as bus drivers and rob unsuspecting passengers who enter their vehicles of their money and other valuables.
Four vehicles were also seized from the suspects which included 11 men and eight women.
They were from Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, Abia, Anambra and Delta states. They were arrested in two different hotels in Calabar.
It was also said that bundles of papers neatly cut to the size of naira notes which the suspects used in their operations were recovered at the hotels. The neatly cut papers were used in most times to replace the money they steal, while the unsuspecting victims would believe they still had their money intact on them.
The suspects, who confessed to the crime, divide themselves into four groups and carry out their operation in various parts of the town. He said they lived outside Calabar but only came in from time to time to carry out their operations.
The assistant police commissioner urged residents, especially those who have just withdrawn huge sums of money from the bank, to be wary of the vehicles they enter. He also warned residents from entering vehicles without registration numbers.
The vehicles seized were a Volkswagen Vento, a Volkswagen Golf, a Volkswagen Wagon and a
Mazda 626 sports car with registration numbers FGG463ME (Anambra), NKE965AA (Ebonyi), FGG451ME (Anambra) and BR151AGL (Lagos) respectively.