A member of a gang which robs passengers inside commercial buses has been arrested by Rapid Response Squad (RRS) operatives after dispossessing a victim of his phones and N61,000 cash.
Ajibola Alao, 29, was caught after the victim, Benedict Asotie, shouted for help on being pushed out of a Vokswagen bus marked APP 820 XE.
The “one-chance” gang picked Asotie at Ladipo bus stop and was to drop him at Oshodi Under Bridge. But the gang did not and on sighting Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) officials there, it ascended the bridge towards Oshodi Oke, where it dispossessed Asotie of his valuables and pushed him out of the bus.
A statement by RRS yesterday quoted Asotie, 24, as saying: “After throwing me out in motion, they threw my N100 fare beside me on the road, perhaps, for me to find my way back home. But, I didn’t give up, I chased the danfo bus.
“Fortunately, I sighted a RRS vehicle marked Response 091 and I quickly alerted them and they chased the vehicle. They arrested Alao, who took all I had on me but the driver and the conductor abandoned their vehicle and escaped. All they took from me were found on him and some additional phones, which he disclosed to the police they took from previous victims of their one-chance operations”.
Alao, according to RRS, said: “I have been in the business of one-chance since 2015. At a point, I stopped and began to pick-pocket, joining buses to Sango, Agege, Oshodi, Apapa and disembarking whenever I have fleeced commuters of their phones and money.
“At a time, I was arrested in Mushin by officers from Olosa Police Station. My mum, who was very ill and on admission in an hospital at that time was brought to see me in detention. She pleaded with the officers and secured my bail. She warned me repeatedly never to steal again.
“She told me that if I have been using other peoples’ sweat to foot her hospital bills, I should stop it forthwith. She insisted that if I wanted to live long, I should stop stealing from people. She added that the consequences would be too severe for me if I go back again. Few weeks after the incident, she died.
“I did it then because I needed N140, 000 to pay my house rent. This time, I got more than that from a week operation but I didn’t stop then. Now, I went back into it to help raise funds for my siblings so that they won’t follow the same path.”
Police spokesperson Dolapo Badmos, a Superintendent (SP), said the suspect had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) at Panti, Yaba, Lagos Mainland.
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