My father, wife rejected me because of drug addiction —Suspected phone thief

A 41-year-old suspected thief, Emmanuel (surname withheld), who had been remanded in prison custody on seven different occasions has blamed drug for his constant visits to the prison.

Out of the seven times, Metro learnt that the suspect was in the prison on two  different occasions in this year alone. And going by his latest arrest, he is probably on his way back.

Emmanuel was arrested by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), after he allegedly stole a mobile phone and money belonging to a bus driver and his passenger at Ojodu Berger area of Lagos State

Metro further learnt that Emmanuel had been on the wanted list of RRS as he had, a week before his arrest, stolen a Samsung Galaxy S4 belonging to one Mrs Adesewa (surnames withheld)  who had tried to help him at Alausa area of the state when she attended an event.

On the day of the incident, Mrs  Adesewa reportedly gave Oyewumi, who was a park attendant,  a N1,000 note for doing his job, instead of the usual N200.

Unfortunately for her, she left Oyewumi  in  her car while she went to get the money from an Automated Teller Machine, and just drove off after handing the money over to the suspect.

According to the victim, “I had driven five minutes away from Alausa when I felt the urge to make some calls for appointments, only to realise that my phone, a Samsung Galaxy S4, was missing. Quickly, my mind raced to him and I realised my folly.

“How could I have left a total stranger in my car alone, leaving documents and valuable items in the car with him? It was just a silly thing to do. I traced him back to that spot but he was gone.”

She said she reported the case at RRS office on same day as advised.

In an interview, Emmanuel confessed to stealing from the woman, saying “I was pushed into it by the need to get hard drugs. As soon as I got the phone, I went to Ipodo in Ikeja to get hard drug.”

He further disclosed that “it was the hard drug dealer that bought the phone from me. He bought it for N8,000 and I spent it on drug. I was so pained that I forgot to shave and barb from the proceeds of the stolen phone.”

Emmanuel admitted that “hard drug has destroyed my life. It was the cause of my being rejected by my wife and my father. I got hooked to drug while I was young and getting out of it has been extremely difficult for me.

“Though some faith-based non-governmental organisations assisted me through rehabilitation in the past, I have always gone back to it. Drug has been the predominant cause of my imprisonment.

“If I am imprisoned now, it would be the eighth time and third time this year,” he said.

The image maker in charge of the state police command, Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the arrest of the suspect, saying the suspect had been transferred to the Special Task Force on the Environment and Other Related Offences.