- The police reportedly discovered the stolen phone during a cell search
A 23-year-old armed robbery suspect, Godwin Emmanuel, has admitted to stealing a police officer’s phone while being transported to the Osun State Police Command in Nigeria.
Emmanuel, arrested alongside two others – Olajide Kareem, 28, and Emmanuel Mike, 33 – is accused of robbing motorists along the Ilesa-Osu Expressway.
Police spokesperson Yemisi Opalola said the suspects were part of a gang targeting travellers. “The three suspects rob motorists and passengers of their belongings. In one incident, a bus driver was shot in the leg and treated at Seventh-day Adventist Hospital in Ile-Ife,” she stated.
Opalola added that Kareem had confessed to being a member of a five-man robbery gang from Ikorodu, Lagos State, who carried out operations in Osun State. The other two suspects were later apprehended.
While speaking to reporters, Emmanuel described how he took the officer’s phone. “I don’t know when I did it,” he said. “I took the phone into the police cell and removed the SIM card. I wanted to call my family because they didn’t know I had been arrested.”
The police reportedly discovered the stolen phone during a cell search. Emmanuel pleaded for forgiveness, saying, “Please tell them to forgive me. I won’t do it again.”
The suspects remain in custody as investigations continue.