HOW WE DISGUISED AS TRICYCLE TRANSPORTERS TO STEAL PASSENGERS’ PHONES — Ex-Convicts
Two ex-convicts, Mohammed Jidda and Adamu Sulaiman, who were arrested by operatives of the Kano State Police Command, have recounted how they act as tricycle operator and passenger to steal unsuspecting passengers’ phones, Nigerian Tribune reports.
The two suspects were arrested after reports were received on June 20 about the acts they perpetrated on State, Tukur, and Zaria Roads in Kano, using a tricycle with KAROTA Number KBY 0126.
Confirming the arrest on Monday, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, SP Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, said that when the report was received, the state Commissioner of Police, Sama’ila Shu’aibu Dikko, raised and instructed a team of Operation Puff Adder, led by CSP Bashir Musa Gwadabe, to trace and arrest the culprits.
According to the PPRO, “the team immediately swung into action. Sustained efforts and intelligence-led follow-up led to the arrest of Mohammed Jidda, 20 years old, and Adamu Sulaiman, 22 years old, all of Brigade Quarters Kano.”
“The suspects were arrested on June 25 at State Road, Kano with the said tricycle, in possession of three suspected stolen mobile phones.”
Nigerian Tribune learnt that after the arrest of the suspects, the three phones found with them were switched on by the policemen and calls started coming in, leading to the location of one of the victims who was then invited to the police station.
The man who was contacted confirmed being a victim of the suspects twice before his second phone was recovered by the police.
The victim (name withheld) narrated his experience thus: “I boarded the tricycle at Maishibat to Farawa. On getting to Rain Oil area, the suspects told me that they were no longer going to Farawa. By then, unknown to me, they had picked my phone. After I disembarked and they left, I touched my pocket but could not find my phone.”
Pointing at one of the suspect, the victim said it was the second time they had stolen his phone as he boarded their tricycle at the same spot he was picked from, and his Infinix phone was stolen.
He expressed his joy at the moment he was called by the police that his phone had been recovered.
In an interview with one of the suspects, Jidda, confessed thus: “We are into stealing of phones from passengers using our tricycle. We are also pickpockets but we don’t use arms. I smoke marijuana and cigarettes.”
“The victim boarded our tricycle to Farawa but we stole his phone before getting there. I was not among those who stole his Infinix phone but was part of the latest operation before we were caught. I have been into the operation for the past one year. We operate on Zaria and State Roads.”
The second suspect, Sulaiman, confirmed all that were said by Jidda. He added: “we had once been arrested and charged to court.”
“We were sentenced to six months imprisonment with N70,000 as an option of fine. We were there in the prison for three months before my parents came to pay the fine to aid my release. Also, the sum of N53,000 was paid to the victim to replace the phone we stole.”
The PPRO said that CP Dikko had ordered a discreet investigation to be carried out, after which the suspects would be charged to court.