Photo: Oyakhilome arrested in Lagos over robbery

– Robber explains how he makes his money from picking people’s pockets 

– Lagos state police command confirms arrest

The operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Lagos state police command have arrested one Oyahkilome Okwonkwo and Oche Joseph for stealing N23,500 from the pocket of a bus passenger. Oyahkilome, 22 and Oche, 25 were arrested at U-turn area on Lagos-Abeokuta road after they had successfully pulled out N23,500 from the pocket of their suspect. The leader of the group, Oche, a secondary school dropout, stated that Iyana-Ipaja/Agbado-Ijaiye route was his most profitable routes for picking pocket, adding that whenever he was financially down, he was sure of making money from picking pockets on that route. 

The two robbers arrested by the Lagos state police command

Oche disclosed that he was jobless and had to learn the tricks of ‘pickpocket’ to survive. He added that he had done virtually all types of jobs from being a conductor, driver to being a factory worker, but that none was more profitable than pickpocket. 

“Although I live in 17, Mosalasi Street, Opposite Ojo Cantonment, Mile 2 to Okokomaiko and fro is my regular route but Agbado to Ijaiye is the most lucrative route for my business. It has remained my ‘sure banker’. 

“There are too many pickpockets on Oshodi to Mile 2 route. Those are our popular routes. We meet ourselves at almost every bus stop on that axis, though you would still make money but I chose Iyana – Ipaja/Agbado – Ijaiye route because there are almost none there. 

“We monitored our victim come out of a bank and we followed him into a bus. We were at the bus stop together but we couldn’t bring out the money from his pocket at the bus stop. We followed him into a bus and we began to pull out the money from his pocket. 

“Because the money was in N500 denomination, it was difficult removing the entire money all at once. I was removing the money in tranches, but unfortunately for us, he was alighting at the next bus stop. On all occasions, as soon as we conclude our operations, we get down fast at the available bus stop,” he explained. 

According to him, “in this instance, he got down before us and instantly, he sensed some money were missing from his pocket and this was when he raised the alarm and RRS men at that point stepped in. 

“They were searching passengers when my colleague, Oyahkilome, brought out the stolen N23, 500 and handed it out to the police to save us the embarrassment and to let the matter rest like that but, we were shocked when they transferred us to RRS Headquarters.” 

Confirming the arrest, the Lagos police public relations officer, Dolapo Badmos, stated that the force was following up the suspects’ revelations and that the police would act as soon as investigations are concluded.