A 29-year-old man identified as Lucky Udeagwu, was at the weekend arrested by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad, RRS of the Lagos State Police Command for alleged theft of electricity cable.
The suspect, who claimed to be an indigene of Delta state, was nabbed for stealing a 35 meter-long armoured cable reportedly meant for the state government’s Light Up Lagos’ project in the Ogudu area, the Punch reports.
The RRS operatives, led by Inspector Bello Kabir, who were on routine surveillance on Oworoshoki Expressway at about 3am on Saturday, were said to have sighted Udeagwu and two members of his syndicate, now at large, coming out of the bush towards Ogudu bus stop and carrying a big sack containing the said armoured cable.
Kabir said the team was monitoring the project when the suspected thieves were sighted.
According to him, “The Commander RRS, ACP Olatunji Disu, told us that Governor Akinwunmi Ambode wanted officers to always check out Light-Up Lagos projects because of cases of vandalism of lamp posts.
“On Saturday, we saw Lucky and two other guys carrying a big sack and coming towards Ogudu bus stop.
“Because it was a straight road, we could see them from afar and as they sighted the RRS vehicle, they took to their heels in different directions, but we caught Lucky (Udeagwu).
“We were suspicious when they ran on sighting us and concluded they must have been criminals.
“We checked the bag and we saw a 35 meter-long armoured cable. Beside the bag was a camouflage cap. On the spot, we searched him. We found in his small bag, a screw driver, a 10-spanner and a T-shirt. The 10-spanner is the size of the bolts covering the lamp posts in the area,” the RRS leader added.
According to the report, Udeagwu could not be traced to the three houses he gave as his residents.
Meanwhile, Lucky denied stealing the cable.
According to him, the men that dropped the bag and fled committed the act.
Udeagwu said, “I got to Ogudu bus stop at about 3am on Saturday. Those boys dropped the sack containing the cable. I don’t know them.
“I got out early because I was searching for work. I wanted to get to Ikorodu early so that I could get a site job. I saw the two boys carrying that bag from a nearby bush, and as soon as they saw the police, they ran and I also ran.
“The tools in my bag are what I used to service my generator, but I sold the generator about a year ago.
“I was arrested at about 3.11am, but I don’t know any of those boys,” the suspected cable thief said.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Dolapo Badmos, who confirmed the incident, said “The suspect has been transferred to SARS’ office in Ikeja.
“The state would not tolerate vandalism and sabotage of governments’ property,” Badmos added.
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