A 50-year-old man, Solomon Michael, has been arrested by the Osun State Police Command for allegedly robbing a motorcycle from a commercial operator in the state.
Michael, while being paraded at the Police Headquarters in Osogbo confessed to the crime, explaining how he suffered leg fractures in an accident he was involved in while escaping with the motorcycle.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Yemisi Opalola, said the suspect alongside others committed the crime in Ede town of the state in May this year.
Recounting how he joined a robbery gang after serving a jail term in Kirikiri, Lagos State, Michael said a man he met in the prison had introduced him to robbery.
According to the former convict, he was riding the motorcycle to Lagos State from Osun State when he was crushed by a vehicle along Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
On why he was imprisoned before committing the latest offence, Michael said, “I used to be a trailer driver for a company in Lagos State but I had a problem with my employer after I stood for someone as a guarantor and the person ran away. Afterwards, the company held me responsible and handed me over to the police. I was prosecuted and sent to Kirikiri prison.”
The suspect, who already has his legs bandaged and unable to walk, said he wanted to start a transportation business after leaving the correctional facility and needed a bus, before a friend he met at the prison convinced him to join his robbery gang in order to get the vehicle easily.
He explained, “I had informed Monsuru, a resident of Ede whom I met in jail, that I needed a Sienna bus to start a transportation business. He then introduced me to a series of robbery activities. At that time, I had some cash with me and I only wanted someone who could release the bus to me on hire purchase. He said I can easily get the vehicle if we do one or two operations together. He told me that we should rob a friend of his. I told him that I have people that can buy stolen vehicles.
“So, mine is to drive them and show them where they will sell the vehicle.
After they snatched the vehicle, I took them to the buyer. The last Venza we robbed, I was the one who showed them the buyer and we sold it for N1.8 million. I only participated in three robbery operations before my accident.
“I wanted to travel to Lagos one day and I snatched an okada man’s Bajaj motorcycle. But on my way to Lagos, I had an accident and my two legs got injured.
“I never knew my colleagues had been arrested. It was on my sick bed that they brought Police to arrest me.”
