Members of the Oodua Peoples Congress (New Era) in the Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State have arrested a middle-aged man suspected to be a member of a robbery syndicate that specialises in dispossessing unsuspecting pedestrians of their valuables along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the suspect, identified simply as Tajudeen, was arrested around 7pm on Monday while attempting to steal a generating set at the Oke Afa area of Magboro in the state.
He was said to have been handed over to policemen attached to the Warewa Police Station along the expressway.
Our correspondent learnt that the suspect confessed that he belongs to a gang that dispossesses members of the public of their valuables late in the night at the Magboro Bus Stop end of the expressway.
The leader of the OPC in the area, Ogunsolu Olayiwola, told our correspondent on Wednesday that aside from robbing people along the expressway, the suspect also confessed to having been involved in stealing from a nearby fishpond among other places.
Olayiwola said, “We were at Oke Afa in Magboro, along the expressway when we heard the alarm raised by the owner of a shop where the suspect was trying to steal a generating set. He tried to escape by jumping into an uncompleted building but we apprehended him.
“He later confessed to us that he had been caught stealing many times. We later took him to the Warewa Police Station where we handed him over to the policemen who told us that they would charge him to court later this week.”
Another member of the OPC team, Semiu Oladapo, said, “When we asked him about those he operates with, he confessed to us that he has others in the vicinity that specialise in snatching bags, phones and other valuables along Magboro Bus Stop.
The suspect, in a video which was seen by our correspondent while confessing, mentioned the names of some of his gang members currently at large.
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said he has yet to be briefed on the development.
