Kuwait arrests two Nigerians for alleged $14,918 robbery

Two unidentified Nigerians have been arrested by the Kuwait General Department of Criminal Investigation in Ahmadi Governorate on suspicion of involvement in an armed robbery.

PUNCH Metro gathered from a Wednesday statement by the Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior, as reported by Arab Times Online, that the suspects were apprehended within 24 hours of carrying out a robbery at an exchange office in Mahboula, a district in the southern part of Kuwait City.

A 35-second video of the robbery, viewed by PUNCH Metro on Wednesday on the Arab Times Online website, shows one of the suspects, wearing a hooded top, exiting a white car before entering the exchange office.

Upon entering the office, the same suspect is seen in a short, inaudible video pointing what appeared to be a gun at the exchange office staff, as observed by our correspondent.

The suspects reportedly stole foreign currencies equivalent to 4,600 Kuwaiti Dinars, valued at approximately $14,918.69, using the currencyconvertonline.com conversion rate.

The report read, “Investigation revealed that the gang meticulously planned the crime, monitoring the exchange offices from nearby rooftops to identify peak times.

“They also used stolen licence plates to conceal the identities of the vehicles involved in the operation.”

One of the suspects, whose name was not disclosed, reportedly confessed after his arrest in Mahboula that he had surveyed the location and informed his accomplice, whose name was also undisclosed, when the office was clear of customers.

“The second suspect was apprehended in the Al-Qurain Market, and the stolen money, along with a small bag containing the narcotic substance ‘crystal meth,’ was recovered from his residence.

“The Ministry of Interior confirmed that the suspects and seized items have been referred to the public prosecution for further legal action,” the report read.

PUNCH Metro recalls that in 2019, some Nigerians were captured on video carrying out an armed robbery in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

During the same period, a Nigerian female drug trafficker, along with three other men, two from Pakistan and one from Yemen, was executed for drug trafficking offences.

The current Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission and former aide to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari on Diaspora Matters, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, had stated in an interview with journalists in Abuja that the executed woman was the eighth person to be executed for drug-related offences in the oil-rich kingdom within the past three years.