DON'T TELL MY MUM & MY WIFE I'M A THIEF...SUSPECT

A suspect, Emmanuel Godwin, 28, has been arrested by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Zone II, Onikan for allegedly snatching tricycles from the riders.  

He also confessed that he was stealing the tricycles because he wanted to get rich quick and solved most of his financial problems. The suspect tricycles snatcher has begged policemen to ensure that his wife and mother didn’t know that he had been arrested.

Godwin, a father of two, said: “Till date, my wife isn’t aware that I’d been arrested. I don’t want her to know because she’s hypertensive. Even my mother is hypertensive. I also don’t want her to know. I had earlier been arrested by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Zone II, Onikan, over the same offence. What made me to go into tricycles snatching was because I lost two of my tricycles to task force men from Alausa, Ikeja. I was a barber before I joined a gang that used to snatch tricycles. If I’m released, I’ll not steal tricycles again!”

A police source said: “The suspect used to pose as an innocent passenger to steal tricycles. He would hire a tricycle and tell the rider where he was going. The place would always be a somewhere convenient for him. Once the rider gets to the venue, Godwin would push him off and rode off with the tricycle. He usually picks venue where nobody would hear a rider calling for help.  He also looks for tricycles that are parked along the street or in front of a compound. He also targets Tricycles Park near restaurants. Once he sees any, he would there to eat, after that; he would come and ride away with it.”

Preliminary investigation by SARS showed that Godwin was first arrested by SARS operatives, Zone II on January 1, 2015 for stealing a tricycle.

Godwin was arrested last week after he stole another tricycle and the owner decided to lodge a complaint with SARS. In an operation led by the Officer in charge of SARS, Abba Kyari, Godwin was trailed to Ijora, where he had sold a stolen tricycle.

He was arrested after he was asked to come and collect money from a buyer who needed tricycle urgently and had cash to pay. Godwin was not aware that the supposed buyer was a member of SARS operatives.

Godwin said: “I’m a tricycle snatcher, not an armed robber! I don’t use gun. I steal from parks and when I ask tricycle rider for a test drive and he allows me, I run away with the tricycle. I used to sell each tricycle I steal at the rate of N60, 000. I have stolen about five tricycles and sold them to a man known as Aye at Ijora. I also sold two to one Rilwan. The market price of a tricycle is N400, 000. Aye still owes me for two tricycles I sold to him while RiLwan owes me one tricycle.”

According to him, he used to operate with a gang before, but decided to go solo. He initiated into the gang by his friend called, a drug addict, called Sodiq Babasunda, now late.

He said: “I didn’t know that they were tricycle snatchers until they used me five times to go and deliver to a buyer at Ijora. They used to give me N5, 000 after each delivery. When I felt that they were cheating me, I decided to go solo. The first tricycle I sold, I got N60, 000. I gave N25, 000 to my late colleague for helping me to get buyer.”

The State’s Command spokesman, Mr. Kenneth Nwosu confirmed the arrest of Godwin.