End Of The Road: Police arrests pocket picker in Lagos

Solomon who is an auto technician confessed to joining a pickpocket gang in Obalende, where he worked as an usher for people buying used cloth called "Okrika".

Operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Lagos State Police Command has arrested a phone thief identified as Femi Solomon.

According to the reports, the pickpocket has confessed to stealing over 1200 phones from commuters in  Lagos since he joined his pickpocketing gang.

ALSO READ: Pickpocket steals from policewoman during interrogation

The suspect who hails from Ogun State was reportedly arrested last Thursday, May 3, 2018, in Iyana Oworo, after stealing a Samsung phone from an unsuspecting victim commuter in a bus stampede at the bus stop.

 

Instablog9ja reports that Solomon who is an auto technician confessed to joining a pickpocket gang in Obalende, where he worked as an usher for people buying used cloth called "Okrika".

Solomon also added that one of his customers identified as Ismaila, a middle-aged man, introduced him to pickpocketing.

He said, "I noticed he was coming to Obalende finely dressed with so much money.

"I told him I was looking for better job opportunity, and he assured me that he was going to assist me with one. And, when he was going to introduce me to one, he said I should be following him, while I learn from him.

"I was following from behind and monitoring what he was doing. We were moving from one bus stop to the other from morning till evening. He was stealing phones and wallets from passengers inside buss and at bus stops.

"Throughout the six months I followed him, we could pick 6 to 8 phones and wallets from people without them knowing. He kept everything to himself, but at the end of the day, he would give me between N4,000 to N6,000 depending on his wish.

"On August 2016, I started on my own. My target is between 4 to 5 mobile phones in a day. Once am able to hit that figure, I stop operation and I retire. I sell phones to a friend based in Lagos Island.

"In my rough estimation, I would have stolen 1200 phones. I operate on Monday, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.”

The RRS operatives reportedly recovered four mobile phones from the suspect.

Serial pickpocket tells police he is an expert in stealing

A notorious pickpocket who was arrested in the Ikeja area of Lagos State has told operatives of Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of State Police Command that he is an expert when it comes to stealing.

Punch reports that the serial thief identified only as Dayo Skippo who was arrested at the Ikeja Under Bridge, has been stealing for a long time and has mastered the art so well that it has been difficult to arrest him.

Dayo Skippo, a school drop-out who said he was pushed into crime by the economic situation in the country, explained that all he needs to do is to have the slightest physical contact with his victim and their valuables are gone.

 

“I can use my head to remove anything from your body. I will just pretend as if I know you somewhere and in the process of giving you salutations, your item is gone,” he began.

He also confessed that he has a gang he works with and does not perpetrate the theft alone and in the case of the victim becoming suspicious, the gang would quickly swing into action.

ALSO READ: 'We run different shifts during operations' - One-Chance robbers tell police

One of the victims of Skippo who narrated his encounter with the suspect to the police, said:

“I went to Ikeja Computer Village to see a friend of mine. After seeing him, on my way to the bus park, I just saw someone hugged me from behind and later apologized to me when I told him I didn’t know him.

Before I could look around again, I discovered my phone was gone already and the guy was nowhere to be found.

I went back to my friend shop almost immediately to track my iPhone and the location and I saw was that my phone was already in Lagos Island."

Confirming the arrest of the suspect, the State Police Command in a statement, said he would soon be charged to court while efforts are being made to arrest his fleeing gang members.