The Ogun State Police Command has apprehended Tobi Shonibare and Odusanya Oni on charges of allegedly stealing electric cables valued at about N650,000 in the Isonyin community, located in the Ijebu North-East Local Government Area of the state.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the suspects were nabbed on June 7, 2024, while trying to sell the allegedly stolen items.
A community source, speaking anonymously because of the sensitivity of the matter, told our correspondent that the duo were first apprehended by Adeyemi Adeshina, a commander of the Social Orientation and Safety Corps in the community. The matter was then taken over by policemen from the Atan-Ijebu Division.
“The operatives of the SAFE corps usually patrol the area in the evening. But on Friday, during one of their routine patrols, along the Imowo area of the community, they saw Shonibare and Oni and became very suspicious of the duo.
“They were carrying two sacks. It was during their interrogation that they discovered the bag was filled with electric cables. They were not able to provide satisfactory answers when they were questioned by the SAFE corps members,” the resident informed PUNCH Metro on Sunday.
Confirming the arrest on Sunday, the spokesperson for the State Police Command, Omolola Odutola, stated that the two suspects had confessed to the crime and would be charged in court.
Odutola said, “The duo was interrogated after the matter was brought to our division in the area. They confessed to the crime. According to them, they stole the cable from a compound in the community. They will be charged after the completion of the investigation.”
Cable thefts have been increasing across various parts of Lagos and Ogun states in recent times. On May 30, PUNCH Metro reported that approximately four suspected vandals targeted a transformer serving Baale Street in the Ijebu-Ode Local Government Area.
Sources claim the suspects arrived in the community during the early hours of the day with a tricycle, stole components of the transformer, damaged some parts, and then fled the area.
Similarly, in April, our correspondent reported that operatives of the Lagos State Police Command arrested a suspected electricity cable vandal identified as Abu Ali.
The suspect was apprehended by policemen from the Pen Cinema Division during the early hours of the day after motorists alerted the state police command to his activities.
