Operatives of the Bayelsa State Vigilante Security Outfit stationed at the popular Tombia-Etegwe roundabout in the Yenagoa Local Government area have arrested two suspected pickpockets who confessed to stealing several mobile phones.
The suspects, Daniel Michael Agu (m) 33 from Abia State and Okpoh Kelvin (m) 34, who hails from Bayelsa State, were arrested following a tip-off from a victim who identified them after they succeeded in collecting his phone inside a tricycle.
According to one of the suspects, Daniel, they have been earning a daily income from the nefarious act of pickpocketing using a tricycle for several years within the Yenagoa metropolis.
The Chairman of the Bayelsa State Vigilante Security Outfit, Hon. Doubiye Alagba Doubiye Alagba disclosed that Daniel Agu is the ring leader of this pickpocket gang and has initiated many boys into this criminal act and has been on the wanted list of the vigilante outfit.
He further noted that these criminals, most of the time, use charms and diabolic means to steal valuables from their victims, and this arrest is a major crackdown on pickpockets.
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Alagba also told newsmen that at about 11 am on Monday, one Abasi (m) from Akwa Ibom state, boarded a tricycle and realized his mobile phone had been stolen.
He quickly boarded another tricycle and ran past the tricycle used by the gang of pickpockets. He stopped by the unit post of the Vigilante Service and laid a complaint to the officers, which led to a stop and search, and the culprits were apprehended.
According to Alagba, “Several phones were discovered within their possessions, including that of the complainant. On switching on one of the phones caught with them, the owner immediately called and said she was robbed by the suspects at a different location within Yenagoa.”
The suspects have been handed over to Operation Doo-Akpo of the Nigerian Police Force for further investigations.
