Ajibola Alao, 29, a member of a one
chance gang arrested by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad(RRS) of the
Lagos State Police Command, has disclosed that his failure to heed his late
mother’s advice not to take other peoples’ sweat caused his arrest.
Alao was chased and arrested on
Thursday afternoon during one of his routine operations in Oshodi after
dispossessing their lone passenger of his two phones and the sum on N61,000:00.
The suspect, in company of the
driver and conductor of their operational bus, a Volkswagen Transporter, with
the registration number, APP 820 XE, had picked up their passenger, Asotie
Benedict, at Ladipo with agreed plan to drop him at Oshodi Under Bridge.
But instead, Alao and his
accomplices, armed with an alternative plan did not stop at Oshodi Under bridge
for him to alight.
Citing the presence of LASTMA at
that Bus Stop, they pretended they ascending the bridge towards Oshodi Oke, it
was at this point they dispossessed Asotie of his two mobile phones (Blackberry
Passport and Samsung) and his wallet containing N60,000:00 before forcing him
to alight while the vehicle was in motion.
According to Asotie, 24, “after
throwing me out in motion, they threw my N100:00 fare beside me on the road,
perhaps, for me to find my way back home. But, I didn’t give up, I chased the
danfo bus.
Fortunately, I sighted RRS vehicle,
Response 091 and I quickly alerted them and they chased the vehicle to a halt.
They arrested Alao, who took all I had on me but the driver and the conductor
abandoned their vehicle and escaped”.
He added, “all they took from me
were found on him and some additional phones, which he disclosed to the police
they took from previous victims of their one chance operations”.
Alao, in his confessional statement,
disclosed to be part of a three man one chance gang and that the two additional
phones in his possession belonged to two previous victims of their operation in
Oshodi.
He stated “I have been in the
business of one chance since 2015. At a point, I stopped and began
pickpocketing, joining buses to Sango, Agege, Oshodi, Apapa and disembarking
whenever I have fleeced commuters of their phones and money”.
“At a time, I was arrested in Mushin
Olosa Police station. My mum, who was very ill and on admission in an hospital
at that time was brought to see me in a chattered car in detention.
She pleaded with the officers
and secured my bail. She warned me repeatedly never to take other people
sweat”, he disclosed.
“She told me that if I have been
using other peoples’ sweat to foot her hospital bills, I should stop it
forthwith. She insisted that if I want to live long, I should stop stealing
from people. She added that the consequences would be too severe for me if I go
back again. Few weeks after the incidence, she died”.
He continued: I did it then because
I needed N140, 000 to pay my house rent. At this time, I got more than that
from a week operation but I didn’t stop then. Now, I went back into it to help
raise funds for my siblings so that they won't follow the same path.
I am the first child and the
breadwinner of the family. Since the death of my mother, I have been taking
care of my brothers. That was my promise to my mum before her death”.
He added, “most of my colleagues in
the business were arrested by RRS last year. Few ones who were not arrested
relocated to other states”.
Confirming the development, the
State's Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent of Police, SP
Dolapo Badmos, said that the Command will not rest on its oars in nipping in
the bud criminal activities in the state.
The suspect has been transferred to
the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Yaba, for further
investigations
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Society