The man that uses monkeys and snakes for robbery has been arrested by the police...SEE PHOTO

Lagos State police have arrested a 27-year-old robbery suspect,
Mohammed Nafiu, who specialised in using monkeys and snakes to
dispossess people of their money and valuables.
One of the monkeys was also arrested and is presently in police custody.
Nafiu told the police that apart from the conventional tool (gun) used
by most robbers, the sight of a snake or monkey unsettles and scares
people. He said he was able to dispossess his victims of their
valuables when confronted with these animals, especially fully grown
ones.
The Kano State-born Nafiu, and his accomplice, Nura, who is still at
large, said they initiated this method of robbery operation some years
ago.
"We trained the animals to obey our instructions. On a single command,
the animals attack whoever we want to rob and we are able to take
whatever valuable they have on them, especially money," Nafiu said.
Nafiu, who is married with three children, was a farmer and native
drug vendor until he came to Lagos about 10 years ago.
"I learnt there were many Hausa people in Lagos, so I decided to come
with my monkey which I had been using for monkey shows in Kano," he
said.
A police source said on the day Nafiu was arrested, he and his
accomplice had two monkeys in their Nissan Primera and were trailing a
man who had just come out of a popular bank in Ogba area of the state.
The man was said to be holding a nylon bag containing money.
On sighting their next victim, they quickly went after him, unleashed
their two monkeys on him and dispossessed him of N230,000 cash.
Nafiu said, "When we attacked the man, he was overcome with fear, so
we collected the money from him. As we were about leaving, having
realised what was happening, people started throwing stones and
several objects at us. Nobody could move near because they were also
afraid of the monkey. Only Nura could escape. When the stoning became
too severe, I could not escape and eventually, police came and
arrested me and my monkey."
He said he could have released the monkey to protect himself, but he
was afraid that the monkey would injure a lot of people. "I had to
endure the attack because of this. I felt safer in the hands of the
police than being stoned to death right there," he added.
He explained that while Nura was escaping with the money, the victim
was chasing him, but that in order to stop the man, he took part of
the money and threw back the remaining at him so he could get busy
picking the few naira notes while he escaped.
The suspect admitted that he had been using the monkey to rob for some
years and that it had injured a lot of people including himself. Nura
showed scratches on his hands which he said were from the animal's
teeth and nails.
The suspect said that he has made a lot of money using this strategy
but this N230,000 was the highest amount I ever got from a single
operation. And now I regret what I have done. If I can be set free, I
won't do such again," the suspect said.
A security source pointed out that another person had reported to the
police that the same gang (Nafiu and Nura) once attacked him with a
"big" snake and dispossessed him of some money.
Nura said that they had two snakes and two baboons, which they used to
scare and harass their victims. One of the monkeys has been arrested
and we are still trailing the other suspect and the other animals,"
the source said.
As of the time of filing this report, Police Public Relations Officer,
Lagos State Command, Mr. Kenneth Nwosu is yet to confirm the
incident..
Firstclassnewsline.net