A 10-year-old Victor Tarekedomoni has revealed how he was lured into robbery at a very tender age.
He made the confession when he was being paraded by the police in Bayelsa State during the week.
Victor is said to be specialized in robbing victims of phones at bus stops and breaking into houses by squeezing through anti-burglary iron-bars, to ransack the homes, during which he would cart away jewelleries, money, phones, and other valuables.
He confessed that he had led several successful operations before nemesis caught up with him.
The young boy told newsmen that he got into the illicit business through the help of his uncle, having already lost his father.
He said, “I lost my father and my mother very early in life. I was staying with my uncle, (name withheld), who taught me how to rob. My uncle has sent me on several occasions to rob in the area.
“There was one time he sent me to an office to steal a TV and their computer, which I did. I was attending the Universal Basic Primary Community Education School at Ovom, I was in primary 4 when I dropped out of school. What happened was that my uncle went to rob, but when the police came to look for him, he ran away from house. So, I dropped out of school and joined a robbery gang.
“I have been involved in several armed robberies; when we go for operation, the older members of the gang will lift me up the fence, I will jump down and pass through the burglarproof bars, enter the house, ransack the place, take money, jewellery and then escape. After the robbery, they will give me N1000 or N1500, which I used to feed myself daily.
Victor, who hails from Egaibiri community in Sagbama Local Government Area, Bayelsa State said further:
“I have robbed over 20 victims. I stole their phones at bus stops or along the street.
“It was when I spent one month in SARS custody, I decided to escape and squeezed through the iron-bars of the cell. I always slept in the store at Arietalin Street, Ovom, before policemen re-arrested me at Sandy area in Yenagoa.”
“If the state government or the governor of Bayelsa can come to my rescue and train me, I can be leader in Bayelsa tomorrow. I am talented and blessed but I didn’t have parental care. That is why I went into robbery and joined a gang. I am a member of Greenlander cult group. I don’t want to go back to robbing again. I want to be a good citizen of Bayelsa.
“I want the public to forgive me because it was my uncle who introduced me to robbery. I started stealing before I joined the gang. The names of the other six members of the gang who are still on run are Junior, Finefine, Daddy Boy, Godspower, Kempade and Goodtimes.”
