Posted by By Eromosele Ebhomele on
A generator thief and his accomplice were, this morning, nabbed by a surveillance team around College Road, Ogba, Lagos.
A generator thief and his accomplice were, this morning, nabbed by a surveillance team around College Road, Ogba, Lagos.
Jake O. Akor, a school certificate holder from Benue state, was alleged to be one of the robbers who have been terrorising the area. He was arrested while attempting to steal a Tiger generating set belonging to one Suleiman Abdullahi.
Speaking with P.M.News, Akor, a resident of 1, Atinuke Close, behind County Hospital, Aguda, Ogba, said he has been in the dubious business for the past one year.
The 27-year-old said he was pushed into stealing generating sets due to financial problems, claiming that he lost his mother at the age of three and his younger ones live with him. He added that since he started the ‘business' last year, he has stolen more than 13 generators.
'I was a contract security officer with First Aluminium Company, but I lost my job. I am one of a set of twins but my twin brother does not steal. I don't have a gun but I check buildings where I can find generators to steal,' he said, adding that those who help him sell the generators don't know he steals them.
'I tell them that a friend of mine brings them from the wharf. They sell them for between N2,500 and N5,000.' he confessed.
Among his buyers, he said, is a pastor with Christ Embassy, to whom he once sold an Elemax 2.9 KVA generator for N12,000. One of the culprits arrested with him, Chimobi Onuoha, an apprentice who repairs generators, told P.M.News that his boss had earlier warned him about Akor.
'I have helped him to sell 10 generators since I knew him and he told me he gets them from the wharf. After selling them, he would give me N500,' Chimobi said. For the past two weeks, residents of the area have gone through hell.
Olufowobi Folorunso, a resident, said he has lost two generators to robbers within months, while another said his was stolen at about 6 a.m., today.
A spokesperson for the Oodua People's Congress (OPC) in the area, said his team has been having sleepless nights over such incidents. 'For example, just last night, Grano Institute of Catering and Hotel Management was visited by robbers who carted away property and money worth about N145,000,' he stated, while the proprietress of the institute, Mrs. Okpani Grace, told P.M.News that after assessing the loss, it may be more than that amount.