While Ibrahim lived at Itolu, Ajegunle area of Lagos, Abudu lived at Amore Street, Apapa. Their area of speciality is stealing handsets and their operational base used to be Lagos.
Recently, however, they decided to enlarge their coast when they felt that their base was too congested with their ilks. So, they stuffed a few belongings into a bag and took a ride to Ibadan, the capital city of Oyo State, which Abudu suggested would be a fertile ground for their ‘business’, since he is a ‘son of the soil’ though his parents are based in Lagos.
With an excuse that he wanted to attend the burial ceremony of a relation of his father, Abudu took his friend to the residence of his father’s cousin at Foko area of the city. The duo arrived on Monday, 4 October, attended the burial briefly and set for the ‘business’ that really brought them to Ibadan.
From Olomi to Sawmill area, they were able to steal seven phones before nemesis caught up with them at Munirat Shopping Complex in the same area, where vigilant shop owners noticed the suspicious movement of one of them, Ibrahim, and invited the police.
According to the Divisional Police Officer of Egbeda Division, Mr. John Wada Aku, policemen from his division went to the scene upon information and arrested the first suspect while his partner in crime was nabbed as policemen sighted him at the gate of the police station.
He added that vigilance on the part of the policemen led to the discovery of the phones, which one of the suspects kept in his inner underwear, as initial search did not reveal anything incriminating on him.
Abudu, while speaking with Saturday Tribune, danced round the truth, obviously not proud to open up on his alleged criminal acts.
“My parents are living in Lagos and I am one of their three surviving children out of six. I came to Ibadan with my friend, Ibrahim, for the burial ceremony of my mum’s grandmother. After the burial, my friend asked me to take him round the town. As we were out on sight-seeing, my friend went to a shopping complex, I would not know if he wanted to buy something.
“The people there said they were suspicious of his movement and called the police. The police came and arrested him and I followed them to know which station so that I could report back at home.
“The police then discovered that we were moving together. That was how I was arrested,” he said, claiming that he didn’t know what his friend went to do at the shopping complex.
“I would not know whether he wanted to steal something from them. He was already moving away when he was called back. The people said that they suspected his movement. He had not yet picked anything then and I was on the other side of the road waiting for him.”
Abudu was, however, economical with the truth, as Saturday Tribune gathered that he knew what his friend, Ibrahim, intended to do at the shopping complex. They had apparently been going round shops to pick handsets by being on the lookout for a while, noticing that owners were not aware of their intention.
This they had already done at Olomi area, with Abudu as the major actor, while the duo moved on until they got to the shopping complex where vigilant shop owners noticed his friend’s suspicious movement and accosted him before he could strike.
Ibrahim Durowoju was more open in his own confession. According to him, “I am a welder working in Lagos. I came with my friend, Abudu, for a burial ceremony and we were strolling around a shopping plaza when I was challenged that I had the intention of stealing, but I had not stolen anything from them there.”
Ibrahim, however, admitted stealing some phones before he got to that area.
“I entered a shop and pretended I wanted to buy newspaper. While I was being attended to, I picked the phone without the owner knowing. It was when I got to the police station that the police discovered where I hid it on me. The total number of phones I had picked were three and all were found on me. My friend Abudu, is not saying the truth because we both planned the stealing,” Ibrahim said.
He futher admitted that he was doing same thing in Lagos when his welding work was not yielding much for him and his boss was no longer opening the shop. He further revealed that aside the phones that were discovered on him. The police also found some recharge cards of different networks and prices, worth over N10,000 in his friend’s bag. Ibrahim also confessed to stealing the cards.
Abudu said most of the time, he only knew about Ibrahim’s deed after showing him his loot, while they would both plan to sell them to make some money.
Both said they smoked hemp, while Ibrahim added that he also used to smoke cigarettes and consume local gin.
A third suspect whom the police stumbled on was Mr. Musibau Yusuf, a 47-year-old bricklayer in whose house the two friends lodged when they came to Ibadan.
After the arrest of the two friends, the police had to conduct a search in their house which led to the discovery 77 pieces of fake N200 notes kept by Yusuf in one of his bags.
Caught unawares, Yusuf told Saturday Tribune that he did not know the source of the fake notes, but only stumbled on them in the bush where he had gone to answer the call of nature.
Narrating how he got into the police net, Yusuf said: “Abudu is a son to one of my relations, but I saw him last about four years ago after which we lost contact when I left Lagos for Ibadan.
“I saw him on Monday, 4 October and I could not send him away since we are blood relations. It was one of our brothers who died and not a female as he said. I just saw him that day and received him and his friend.
“The burial was held on 5 October and it was obvious they did not come for the burial as they said because they did not stay long. On Wednesday 6 October, they went out and did not return. I wondered what could have happened and the next I saw was police bringing them home on Thursday, 6 October. They searched the room and discovered some phones in the boys’ bags.
“As they went on searching, they discovered the fake N200 notes in my wardrobe. In truth, I found that money about two months ago where I went to defecate in the bush at Ore on my way back from Ondo State where I went to work as a bricklayer.
“It was around 3:00 p.m. When I got to Ibadan and opened it, I discovered they were fake notes and I had kept them since then, since I could not spend them and my mind was off it until the police discovered the pack in my wardrobe.”
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