A 23-year-old armed robbery suspect, Godwin Emmanuel has confessed how he stole a police officer’s phone from a patrol van while being transported to the Osun State Police Headquarters in Osogbo, capital of the state.
He said he stole the security agent’s phone for hours before he could discover his phone was missing.
Emmanuel was arrested along with two others, 28-year-old Olajide Kareem and 33-year-old Mike Emmanuel, who were accused of robbing residents and sexually assaulting a 65-year-old woman on the Ilesa-Osu Expressway of the state.
The woman was taking her husband to the hospital when Emmanuel and his gang attacked them, robbed them of their belongings, after which he forced the woman to the vehicle and had carnal knowledge of her on the road.
He said he had taken the phone into his cell with a bid to inform his family members of his arrest.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Yemisi Opalola, confirmed Emmanuel’s arrest, saying the suspect and two others robbed motorists and passengers of their belongings.
According to her, in one of the incidents, a bus driver was shot in his leg but was subsequently rushed to Seventh-day Adventist Hospital in Ile-Ife where he received treatment.
“Consequently, Olajide was arrested in the bush and he confessed that he was a member of a five-man gang of armed robbers who came from the Ikorodu area in Lagos state to perpetrate their acts in Osun State. The other two suspects were arrested,” Opalola stated.
Admitting the crimes, Godwin said, “I was arrested for armed robbery. When I was being transported to the Police Command in Osogbo, inside the police patrol van that I was conveyed, I stole a phone. I don’t know if it is a police phone. I beg you, don’t be angry with me.
“I told the police not to be angry with me. I didn’t know when I did that. I took the phone into the police cell without them knowing. I removed the SIM card; I want to use the phone to call my people because they don’t know I have been arrested for armed robbery.
“I have been here for about two months. They later came to search me in the cell where I was and discovered the phone on me. Please tell them to forgive me. I won’t do it again.”
