12th January, 2011
It was a bad day for a cable thief identified as John Akaeze when he was shot by night guards while he was allegedly attempting to steal PHCN cables at Ikotun, a suburb area of Lagos, South West Nigeria.
The suspect was shot and seriously injured when he was allegedly caught stealing cables supplied with a new transformer to the residents of Ogunade Avenue, Emmanuel Bus Stop, Off Governor’s Road, Ikotun.
An eyewitness told P.M.NEWS that Akaeze drove into the area in his Mercedes Benz car at about 3.00 a.m armed with tools such as saw, hammer, spanner, plier, etc to remove the cables.
He was unlucky as the security men on duty were on the alert and arrested him. He was shot in the leg when he attempted to escape.
When the matter was reported at Ikotun police station, the police raced to the scene and arrested him along with his car and took him to the station.
When P.M.NEWS visited the station, the DPO was not around but the Mercedes car was parked at the station.
A source at the station told our reporter that the suspect has been taken to Ikeja General hospital for treatment of his gun shot wounds.
The residents expressed shock over what happened. The secretary of the Landlords’ Association, Bar. Felix Atiaka told P.M.NEWS that the area is usually in darkness because of the vandalization of the transformer in the area.
He also commended the efforts of the security men for arresting the suspect.
— Cyriacus Izuekwe
