‘Don’t tell my wife, mum I’m a thief ’

A 28-year-old man held for allegedly snatching tricycles from riders has begged policemen to ensure that his wife and mother do not know that he has been arrested. The suspect, Emmanuel Godwin, said the news of his arrest might plunge his mum and wife to their death. The father of two also confessed that he was stealing tricycles because he wanted to get rich quickly and solve most of his financial problems. He said: “Till date, my wife is not aware that I have been arrested. I do not want her to know because she is hypertensive. My mother too is hypertensive. I also do not want her to know.

“I was earlier arrested by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Zone II, Onikan, over the same offence. What made me to go into tricycle snatching was because I lost two of my tricycles to task force officials from Alausa, Ikeja. I was a barber before I joined a gang that used to snatch tricycles. If I’m released, I will not steal tricycles again.” After his arrest by SARS Zone II, he was arraigned in court but later found his way out. He went to his old crime and now arrested again by SARS, Ikeja, Lagos. A police source said: “The suspect used to pose as an innocent passenger to steal tricycles.

He would hire a tricycle and tell the rider where he was going. The place would always be somewhere convenient for him. Once the rider gets to the venue, Godwin would push him off and ride off with the tricycle. “He usually picks venues where nobody would hear a rider’s call for help.

He also looks for tricycles that are parked along the street or in front of a compound. He also targets tricycle parks near restaurants. Once he sees any, he would go there to eat. After that, he would steal a tricycle.” Preliminary investigation by SARS showed that Godwin was first arrested by SARS operatives, Zone II on January 1, 2015 for stealing a tricycle.

He was arrested last week after he stole another tricycle and the owner decided to lodge a complaint with SARS. In an operation led by the Officer in charge of SARS, Abba Kyari, Godwin was trailed to Ijora, where he had sold a stolen tricycle. He was arrested after he was asked to come and collect money from a buyer who needed tricycle urgently and had cash to pay. Godwin was not aware that the supposed buyer was a member of SARS operatives.