By Deborah Nnamdi
The Delta State Police Command has apprehended two individuals suspected of being serial phone snatchers during a routine stop-and-search operation.
According to the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Bright Edafe, officers stopped a commercial tricycle (keke) and found seven mobile phones in the rider’s possession during a search. The passengers were unable to unlock the phones, arousing suspicion and leading to further investigation.
SP Edafe disclosed this through a video shared on his X (formerly Twitter) social media platform on Monday.
Edafe, issuing a public advisory to commuters through the video, said: “As you go about your activities this week, for those who board tricycles and commercial vehicles, hold your phones in your hands.” he cautioned.
“If any male passenger is coughing, just mind your business and hold your phone firmly. Listen and learn.”
He also defended the police’s stop-and-search strategy as an effective crime-fighting tool; he said: “Stop and search is crime fighting; when our men stop a tricycle or vehicle for a search, don’t frustrate them.”
One of the suspects, who identified himself as Oliver Osadebe, while being interviewed, noted that he had been in the business of snatching phones before he traveled to South Africa in 2021 while his accomplice, the ‘Keke’ rider, noted that the day he was caught was his first day.
Responding to how the phone was recovered, the suspect said, “Police stopped the keke man, he said search me, he didn’t see anything, they now searched the keke man and saw him with seven phones.”
Edafe noted that five out of the seven phones had been reclaimed by the rightful owners at the time of sharing the video.
