A 41-year-old man arrested by the operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of Lagos State Police Command for stealing the phone of his helper has pleaded that he should be assisted from going to prison the eighth time.
The suspect, Emmanuel Oyewunmi, 41, from Ikale, Ondo State, was arrested by the operatives on Friday night at Ojodu Berger Bus Stop for stealing N600 and a phone from a bus driver and a passenger.
Oyewunmi, before now, has been on the wanted list of RRS’s operatives for stealing a Samsung Galaxy S4 belonging to one Mrs Adesewa Oni from her car.
On the penultimate day, Oyewunmi was a park keeper outside Shoprite Shopping Mall, Ikeja when Oni drove in to attend a ceremony at the Adeyemi Bero, Auditorium, Alausa.
For keeping an eye on her car, Oni instead of offering Oyewunmi the N200 he requested decided to drive him to a nearby ATM to withdraw some money out of which she gave him N1000.
Unwittingly for her, she left Oyewunmi inside her car while she gets the money from the ATM. Upon returning, she handed Oyewunmi the N1,000:00 and she drove off.
“I have driven five minutes away from Alausa when I felt the urge to make some calls for appointments, and I realised that my phone, Samsung Galaxy S4, was missing. Quickly, my mind raced to him and I realised my folly. How could I have left a total stranger in my car alone, leaving documents and valuable items in the car with him? It was just a silly thing to do for me. I traced him back to that spot but he was gone.
“When I was done looking for him everywhere, I was advised to report the incident at the RRS’s Headquarters the same day.”
The suspect on interrogation admitted stealing the phone of his helper while she left him in the car to get money through the ATM last week Sunday.
“I was pushed into it by the need to get hard drugs. As soon as I got the phone, I went to Ipodo in Ikeja to get hard drug. It was the hard drug dealer that bought it from me. He bought it N8, 000:00. I spent the rest on drug. I was so pained that I forgot to shave and barb from the proceeds of the stolen phones”, he stated.
He explained further, “Hard drug has spoilt my life. It was the cause of my rejection by my wife, and my father. I got hooked on drug while I was young and getting out of it has been extremely difficult for me.
Some faith-based non-governmental originations have assisted me through rehabilitation in the past. I have always gotten back into it. Drug has been the predominant cause of my imprisonment.
If I am imprisoned now, it would be the eighth time and third time this year”, he said.
On his second offence, Oyewunmi admitted stealing a phone and N600 from the bus driver and a passenger but pleaded that he was under the influence of drug.
Confirming the arrest of the suspected thief, the Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent of Police, SP Dolapo Badmos, urged Lagosians not to expose themselves to criminals.
The suspect has been transferred to the Lagos State Taskforce for prosecution.