RRS Arrests Man Making N.5M Monthly Selling Stolen Phones

Matilda Omonaiye/

A suspected phone thief in Lagos must have been laughing at those who say crime does not pay until the police showed interest in his business.

Thirty-one-year-old Lawal Deolu was making at least N18, 000 on a daily basis which amounts to N540, 000 a month bringing a sad day to the happy world of people visiting the Computer Village in Ikeja, Lagos.

He told the police that much after his arrest by vigilant Rapid Response Squad (RRS) officers.

According to the RRS, Deolu confessed that he was making the money selling stolen phones.

The RRS told NewsmakersNG that Deolu was arrested on Friday around 5 p.m. when he tried to pick a phone from a passerby in Ikeja Under Bridge.

Deolu, who had before his arrest allegedly steadily picked two android phones from passersby was removing another android phone from the pocket of another victim when the phone incidentally fell from his hand thus drawing the attention of its owner.

He was promptly arrested by the RRS officers attached to the Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) stationed at Ikeja Under Bridge.

“Just as the suspect was explaining the source of the phones in his possession, one of his victims, who was trying to catch a glimpse of what was happening saw his phone in suspect’s hands,” says a statement from the RRS today.

Deolu, in his confession to the police, explained that he was operating in Computer Village, Ikeja and Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos.

He told the police: “On Friday, I was in Computer Village as usual. I have picked two phones in the morning which I sold to my customers in Computer Village.

“In the afternoon, I resumed picking few phones. I was picking the third one when the owner raised an alarm which attracted the attention of the RRS men. They arrested me and unfortunately, just as I was trying to prove my innocence, one of my victim identified his phone in my hand.

“I don’t operate every time. I go out maybe twice in a week and I make at least N18,000 from pickpocketing. There were times I made more than that, especially, when I picked expensive phones.

“I sell the phones to Afeez and Lanre. They are street guys in Computer Village. I was trained by Bello. I have not seen him a long while now.”

Commenting on the development, the Lagos State police spokesman, DSP Bala Elkana, said the suspect was assisting the police in the arrest of the buyers of his stolen phones in Computer Village, Ikeja.

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