Popular Nigerian rap artiste, Terry Apala, has taken to his Instagram account to share with his fans that he was a victim of armed robbery last night.
In a video posted on his page, the singer showed how his assailants broke the glass of his car to rob him and his friends.
However, in an exclusive chat with The PUNCH, the rapper narrated his ordeal in the hands of the armed robbers. The entertainer revealed that what shocked him the most was that people stood by while he was being robbed.
He said:
“I was robbed last night at Alapere, Ketu and people were just looking. It happened some minutes past 9 pm. We were stuck in standstill traffic. As it was happening, people were just looking and they could not do anything. I had to ask myself, what kind of country is this?”
Still shaken by the experience, Terry Apala noted that his assailants, who appeared to be in their 30s, wielded cutlasses. He further told The PUNCH that he is glad they did not recognise him as a celebrity; if not, he might have been harmed.
The rapper said,
“They weren’t even holding guns but cutlasses. They kept shouting in Yoruba that I should open the door and as I did not oblige them, they broke the glass of my car.
“It was at that time I knew that they were not joking. If you see the men, very ugly and I suspect they were in their 30s. Luckily, they did not hurt the four of us that were inside the car. We had to co-operate because one of them instructed the other that if we did otherwise, he should hurt one of us. I am happy that they did not recognise me as a celebrity because I am sure they would have harmed me as I had seen their faces.”
Apala said that his car was the only one that was targeted by the armed robbers who carted away with valuables worth about N700,000.
He said:
“They took virtually everything that we had in the car. They took the phones of everyone in the car except mine because I quickly hid mine. They stole everyone’s apple wristwatches, among other things.
“If I am to estimate the amount of what they stole from us, everything would be valued at about N700,000. They stole two iPhones 12, one iPhone XR; I had a loose change of about N15,000 in the car and my wristwatch which is valued at N120,000. Everything can be valued at N700,000 to N800,000.”
Apala added:
“I was so upset that people were looking at us as everything happened, they could not do anything. Nigeria is not safe; it is a failed country.”