Ndubuisi Nsuka, who was arrested alongside two other pickpockets members of his gang while attempting to steal from a policeman, is now begging the Zone 2 Police Command, Onikan, Lagos, where the police officer is attached to for forgiveness.
The 28-year-old Imo State indigene and his accomplices – Saheed Shittu and Usman Abubakar – belonged to a syndicate, which specialised in using a tricycle to dispossess commuters of their valuables. Punch gathered that while Abubakar rode the tricycle, Nsuka and Shittu allegedly pretended to be passengers and stole from their victims.
However their arrest came on Tuesday, after they attempted to rob a policeman. Confirming the arrest of the pickpockets, the Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, Zone 2 Police Command, DSP Dayo Ojekunle, said the suspects would be arraigned at the end of investigations.
He said, “One of our officers, who was coming to the office on Tuesday, boarded their tricycle. He was about to enter the tricycle when some people cautioned him. They told him that the men were notorious for stealing money and phones from passengers. He, however, boarded the tricycle.“When they wanted to steal from him, he did not struggle with them and he did not reveal his identity because he was in mufti. .
“After about five minutes ride, the tricycle approached the Zone 2 command headquaters. He stopped them and asked some officers at the command to arrest them. The rider of the tricycle escaped, but the other two were arrested. .
“During interrogation, they initially pretended that they did not know each other. We, however, discovered that both of them had phones. We dialled the number of one of them on the other person’s phone and it brought out his accomplice name. We later found a smart phone, earlier stolen that day, in the boxer shorts of one of them.”
It was learnt that the suspects gave the police information that led to the arrest of the rider.