Aggrieved women have attacked and stripped naked a mother of a set of twins for allegedly stealing two sachets of noodles at a market in Jakande Estate, Ilasan, along Victoria Island-Epe Expressway, Lagos State.
The alleged noodle thief was said to have purchased four sachets of the product, valued at N160 from a trader identified as Iya Modinatu and gave her N500. But while waiting to collect her balance of N340, the mother of two was said to have stealthily stolen two more sachets of the noodles, which she hid in her bag.
The alleged thief, identified as Mama Ibeji, was said to have stolen the two additional sachets of noodles while the trader, Iya Modinatu, who had left her makeshift shop, was searching for change for her.
An eyewitness, Shukura Ajibola, alleged that she was in her shop when she saw Mama Ibeji stealing the two sachets of noodles, which she concealed in a polythene bag containing the four sachets she earlier paid for.
She said, “I saw her. I was watching the woman as she pretended to be admiring the noodles while watching Iya Modinatu. She quickly put it inside the bag and moved backward so that Iya Modinatu would not suspect her. So, after Iya Modinatu gave her the balance of N340, I informed her about what she had done. As the thief was going, I ran and stopped her. I told her I was not embarrassing her because I saw when she smartly took two sachets and put in the bag.
“I asked her, do you think nobody saw you? Open your bag; let us count how many noodles you have in it. The woman began to shake. She began to beg for forgiveness, but the other women around, who believed I was lying and embarrassing the innocent woman, grabbed her clothes. They tore her gown and bra. Other women later came to her rescue.”
On her part, the trader, Iya Modinatu, said, “One of the women around, Mama Chioma, said it was wrong for people to beat her over two sachets of noodle. She said probably she was hungry and had no money to buy food. This country is hard now. People began to laugh. She also gave her a wrapper to cover herself. Although I felt for her, they really disgraced her. She should have told me. “I could have sold it to her on credit. I have sold to some customers but immediately they buy from you, they will run away. You will never see them again. If not for Shukura, I wouldn’t have known. They said the woman is from Delta State. She has twins. Somebody who knows her told us.”
Another trader, Mama Chioma, said, “I had pity on the woman; even the wrapper I gave her to cover her body, she has not returned it. But I understand. They said she lives at Maiyegun Village. Maiyegun is not far from here. A woman, who knows her, said she is not living with her husband. She has two other children apart from the twins. The shame to come around this area will still be there. You should see all these young women, the way they pounced on her. They wanted to pull her underwear, when I stopped them from doing so. As she was leaving, they still booed her. It happened in the evening around 6.30pm. What they did to her was too harsh. But if you also look at it from another angle, that would teach any thief, who comes to steal from us, a lesson.”
