Yusuf Muhammed
Three teenagers have ended up on the wrong side of the law as they were arrested after attempting to snatch a motorcycle belonging to a policeman in Lagos, southwest Nigeria.
Sources told P.M.NEWS that the teenagers identified as Kazeem Moshood, 19, a native of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, Musa Elebiyi, 19, a native Lagos State and Jamiu Raimon 16 also a Lagosian, were arrested at Abule-Egba, a suburb of Lagos, by people around the scene of the robbery, and handed over to the police at Oko-oba Division under Area ‘G’ Police Command.
According to an eye witness, a police officer simply identified as Mr. Oni went to buy food at a restaurant with his motorcycle and as he was about to leave, one of the robbers pointed a gun at him and demanded for the key of the motorcycle.
P.M.NEWS gathered that Oni immediately threw the key at the robber who accosted him. But the robber could not start the motorcycle because of the anti-theft security device installed in it by Oni.
People around who saw what was going on summoned courage and arrested the robber while Oni put a call across to Oko-Oba Police Station for assistance.
The other two suspects who were about to rob another commercial motorcyclist of his motorcycle abandoned it and took to their heels but were given a hot chase by other motorcycle riders and a police team led by the Operations Officer, Peter Attama who had quickly mobilised anti-robbery team to the area. During interrogation after their arrest, Moshood said Elebiyi invited him for the operation. He said he is motor vehicle mechanic and learnt the trade some years back at Progress Road, Abule Egba.
In his confessional statement to the police, Moshood said: “We are living at Idi-Oro area of Mushin. Elebiyi told me to follow him and Jamiu to Abule-Egba to snatch Okada (motorcycle) so I followed them.
“We took a bus ride and when we got to Abule-Egba, we dropped off and started looking for Okada to snatch and as I saw the man (policeman) trying to climb the Okada I pointed my gun at him and asked him to surrender the key.
“I did not know that the Okada had security device. As I tried to start it, the Okada did not start. It was at this point that people around swarmed me.”
Two locally made guns and two live cartridges were recovered from the suspects.
When P.M.NEWS visited Oko-Oba Police Station, the Divisional Police Officer in charge of the station, Akintade Williams, was said to have gone out on official duty. Residents of the area who had besieged the station to see the robbers were still at the station when I reporter called.
A police source at the station said the suspects would soon be charged to court.
