Police arrest 4 for snatching phones, wallets at Oshodi

Operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Lagos State Police Command, at the weekend, arrested four robbery suspects for allegedly snatching mobile phones and wallets, among other items, from passers-by in the Oshodi area of Lagos. The suspects identified as Sodiq Hassan, 17; Lanre Makinde, 20; Ahmed Kazeem, 19 and Sunday Oyeniran, 21, […]

Operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Lagos State Police Command, at the weekend, arrested four robbery suspects for allegedly snatching mobile phones and wallets, among other items, from passers-by in the Oshodi area of Lagos.
The suspects identified as Sodiq Hassan, 17; Lanre Makinde, 20; Ahmed Kazeem, 19 and Sunday Oyeniran, 21, were alleged to have connived with others, still at large, to steal a Tecno iPad, i-tel 105 phones and wallets from unsuspecting members of the public.
One of the suspects, Kazeem, was alleged to have snatched an i-tel phone from their victim, Jerry Alagbada, while another suspect, Hassan, allegedly conspired with one Awuwa, still at large, to snatch a handset from a victim, Rasheedat Oyebamiji. Makinde, on his part, was alleged to have stolen a wallet belonging to Lukman Olamide. It was gathered that all the three incidences occurred at Oshodi under-bridge.
The police team, during interrogation, discovered that Oyeniran, an ex–convict who was released from prison on November 14, 2015, was found in possession of mobile phone snatched by the gang.
Narrating his ordeal to the Police, Alagbada, a software analyst working in Ikeja said, “I was descending Oshodi pedestrian bridge with my earphone on. Suddenly, Ahmed Kazeem brushed his shoulder against mine. I noticed the music I was listening to stopped. I used my hand to feel my phone kept in my pocket but it was no longer there.
“One of the passers-by who saw him told me Kazeem had stolen my phone, by then he had run away to the middle of the expressway, looking at me. Unfortunately for him, as we made to chase him, he was prevented from running further, only for him to face our direction. That was how we caught him. Upon catching him, he confessed to have stolen my phone but he told us he had dropped it when he was being chased.”
He added that one Omoga, who was the leader of those that arrested Kazeem, was the one who later took the phone from where the suspect dropped it.
Another victim, Oyebamiji, explained how her Tecno iPad was stolen from her allegedly by Hassan. She said she alighted from her husband’s car to open the back door for the passengers they assisted to Oshodi. Unknown to her, Hassan and Awuwa had taken her iPad placed on the front seat of the car, but unfortunately for them, operatives of the RRS spotted them from afar as they were taking the iPad.
 “It was the RRS men that arrested Hassan but his accomplice, Awuwa escaped with the iPad. We made a series of efforts to locate Awuwa but he managed to escape. My iPad is still with him,” she said.

In his confessional statement, Kazeem said that he picked Alagbada’s phone when it was falling down from the victim’s pocket. He pointed out that the phone was presently with the gang’s leader, Omoga. “I was influenced by peer pressure. I have observed the way boys from Idi–Oro in Mushin snatch phones from passers-by in Oshodi and I decided to demonstrate it,” he added.

On his part, Hassan, a primary school drop-out, said that he was a bus conductor. “I learnt generator repairing in Ibadan, Oyo State. I came to Lagos to raise money for my ‘freedom’. I only sleep in Oshodi under-bridge,” he said, adding, “Although I was with Awawu that morning, it was him that stole the iPad. I and my colleagues have searched for him, but we could not find him. Awuwa is a very strong person; none of us can confront him. He stays in Idi–Oro.”

Makinde, however, said; “I was on drug when the incident happened; I was not conscious of what I was doing,” while Oyeniran claimed that since he was released from prison on November 14, he had severed relationship with the gang, emphasising that ‘Eegun’ and ‘Yuppy’ were the leaders of the gang.

The suspects have since been charged to court.