A 41 year old man arrested by the operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Lagos State Police for stealing the phone of his helper has pleaded that he should be assisted from going to prison the eighth time.

The suspect, Emmanuel Oyewunmi, 41, from Ikale, Ondo State, was arrested by the operatives at Ojodu Berger Bus Stop for stealing N600 and a phone from a bus driver and a passenger.

Oyewunmi, before now, has been on the wanted list of RRS’s operatives for stealing a Samsung Galaxy S4 belonging to one Adesewa Oni from her car.

On the said day, Oyewunmi was a park keeper outside Shoprite Shopping Mall, Ikeja when Oni drove in to attend a ceremony at the Adeyemi Bero, Auditorium, Alausa.

For keeping an eye on her car, Oni instead of offering Oyewunmi the N200 he requested decided to drive him to a nearby ATM to withdraw some money out of which she gave him N1000.

Unwittingly for her, she left Oyewunmi inside her car while she gets the money from the ATM. Upon returning, she handed Oyewunmi the N1,000:00 and she drove off.

Oyewunmi on interrogation admitted stealing the phone of his helper while she left him in the car to get money through the ATM last week Sunday.

He explained further, “hard drug has spoilt my life. It was the cause of my rejection by my wife, and my father. I got hooked on drug while I was young and getting out of it has been extremely difficult for me.

On his second offence, Oyewunmi admitted stealing a phone and N600 from the bus driver and a passenger but pleaded that he was under the influence of drug.

Confirming the arrest of the suspected thief, the Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent of Police, Dolapo Badmos, urged Lagosians not to expose themselves to criminals.

The suspect has been transferred to the Lagos State Taskforce for prosecution.