An 18 year old suspect arrested by the
operatives of the Rapid Response Squad
(RRS) of Lagos State Police Command, has
disclosed that he ran away from auto
engineering to pickpocketing because it was
more. The suspect, Seun Jimoh, 18, from
Ondo State was arrested on early hours on
Tuesday , in Oshodi while in the act.
The suspect, who decked in brown jacket and
trousers, and a hand bag like a business
executive, before his arrest, had already
stolen four mobile phones from unsuspecting
commuters in an early morning rush in the
area.
It was learnt that he was about to remove
N18,000:00 from the pocket of a commuter
during another bus stampede when he was
caught.
According to our source.
Unknowingly to him, two of his victims were
on the lookout for him after suspecting him
for being in custody of their missing phones.
While standing at Oshodi under Bridge, they
spotted him removing money from the pocket
of a passenger, Gbenga Odeniyi. At that
point, his earlier victims, Onuh Austine and
Onesimus Paul raised an alarm, which made
Jimoh to promptly drop the money and take
to his heels but RRS operatives close to the
scene chased and caught him".
The operatives after listening to all the
accusations requested the victims’ phone
numbers which were dialled and they were
found in Jimoh’s handbag.
While at the RRS's Headquarters, the suspect
confessed to have stolen the two phones
during a bus stampede.
In his confessional statement, he said:
On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays,
I am always in Oshodi pickpocketing. I
stole an average of eight phones on
Mondays and maybe like nine phones
on Fridays. I don’t really get more
than five phones on Wednesdays.
He added,
" am an orphan.
I was brought to
Lagos by my uncle. He enlisted me in
an auto – mobile workshop but I ran
away from there to Mushin where I
honed my skills in pickpocketing. All
the phones that I stole, I sell them in
Alaba Rago to some Hausas. They buy
fairly used phones and materials from
people. I have been in this business
since 2013. I have never been caught
or imprisoned before"
In his words,
“nobody needs to train you on how to
pickpocket. It is so easy and the idea
came naturally to me. You can do it
but you do the easy ones. I get to
Oshodi by 6:30 a.m. and I leave after
operations around 9:00 a.m. I sell
Nokia Microsoft N7, 000:00; Infinix
Hot N8,000; Tecno Y series, N7,000 –
N9,000 and small Samsung phones
N4, 000:00”.
The RRS operatives later invited the owners
of the two other phones found with Seun to
collect them.
Our source disclosed that the Policemen are
on the verge of arresting stolen phone buyers
mentioned by the suspects, added that, one
of the ways to stem cases of phone theft in
the state is to pick-up the major buyers.
Confirming the arrest, the State Police Public
Relations Officer, PPRO, Superintendent of
Police, SP Dolapo Badmus, re-assured people
of Lagos, of maximum security in place in
the state.
She added that the suspect has given
information that would help track down his
colleagues in the same trade as well as
stolen phone buyers.
The suspect has been transferred to the
Lagos State Taskforce on Environment for
prosecution.
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