A man who was arrested and charged for pickpocketing and stealing in 2017 by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Lagos State Police Command, was again rearrested by RRS for similar offence at the weekend.
The suspect, Tunde Ajeigbe, 27-years-old, with two other accomplices (Ekene and Bolenbe) rode a motorcycle to 7Up to rob unsuspecting members of the public.
During the operation, Tunde jumped down from the bike to snatch an android phone from a passenger inside a commercial bus.
He thereafter rejoined his gang on the bike and they sped off. However, luck was against them as witnesses at the scene of the crime gave them a hot chase from that spot until they got to Otedola Bridge where they alerted RRS men on pin down underneath the bridge.
The Policemen gave the fleeing thieves a hot chase, forcing them to abandon their motorcycle and make for the bush where Tunde was arrested. The two others escaped.
In his statement to the police, Tunde confessed to have been arrested for a similar offence in 2017 and for which he was charged to court.
“I was arrested around Ojota after I snatched a lady’s phone and got caught by the police”, he said.
“I was remanded in the prison since then and was only released on 19th of November 2019 but I couldn’t go back to my wife and child. I went back to the house I rented before going to prison, but I couldn’t find my properties and my family again so I made for the street again.
‘I went back to Oshodi under bridge to join my friends and they gave me clothes to wear and bought me food before we went back to our usual job.
“After spending some days in Mushin, some of my area brothers who knew I just came from prison helped me secure a motorcycle on hire purchase, but that wasn’t enough for me as I wanted to make quick money to go see my mother in the village after leaving home for three years without seeing her.
“My aged mother would be worried after I left home without returning and no one knew my whereabouts as my wife never informed my family that I have been arrested and remanded in the prison. I therefore sought to steal again to raise some money but unfortunately I was caught.”
Both Ekene and Bolenbe are at large and the police are on their trail, but a motorcycle with registration number FST-279 QJ was recovered from the thieves while they escaped with the stolen phone.
Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu warned all criminal elements in the state to stay off, even as he ordered the case be transferred to Special Anti Robbery squad for further investigations.