Olu Samuel, Lokoja
Operatives of the Lokoja Vigilante Group of Nigeria, have arrested a 27-year-old man, Hassan Abdul, who specializes in stealing motorcycles in the Lokoja metropolis and its environs.
Abdul was arrested on Friday evening in Lokoja.
Abdul who was said to have stolen over 10 motorcycles in the last three months was said to belong to a syndicate suspected to be behind a series of violent motorcycle thefts in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital.
Speaking on the arrest, the Commander of the Vigilante Group, in the state, Chief Hassan Yusuf said the suspect, Hassan Abdul, was apprehended after stealing a motorcycle at GSM Village in Cantonment, Lokoja yesterday from a victim.
According to Yusuf, the syndicate used to operate between Ayinbga and Lokoja, saying the syndicate from Ayinbga usually come to the Lokoja axis to dismantle the motorcycles and take them to Ayinbga.
Mr Yusuf said the suspect, who hails from Ayinbga in Kogi East, was arrested on Friday in the former Nassara Cinema area of Lokoja.
He said the suspect said in his confessional statement that he started stealing motorcycles about three years ago and that on the day he was arrested, he stole a motorcycle parked in front of Lokoja GSM Village in Cantonment.
“He said he has a special key which he uses to unlock and steal motorcycles,” Yusuf said.
The Vigilante Group Commander stated that a discreet investigation revealed that the suspect had stolen over 10 motorcycles in Lokoja.
He said the suspect confessed that he usually sold the stolen items to his buyers for N150,000.
He said the level of success of the issue of security generally in Kogi state was attributed to the synergy with all security agencies and the journalists from the timely dissemination of information.
In his own reaction, the Chairman Kogi State chapter of Association of Phone Technicians and Accessories Dealers,
Comrade Salihu Abubakar, where the motorcycle was stolen, appealed to the security agencies to ensure that the suspect is prosecuted.
According to him, that will serve as a deterrent to others.
Abubakar explained that, “a lot of our customers motorcycles have been stolen here. We have reported series of cases of motorcycle theft to the security agencies. Thank God we were able to arrest one yesterday.
“We want to use this medium to appeal to the security agencies to ensure this suspect is procecuted,” he stressed.