Hunger drove me into stealing, confession of a pickpocket

LUCK ran out of a 26-year- old man, Idowu Balogun, after he was nabbed by a mob, yesterday, following his act of stealing a purse from a shop at Shibiri area of Lagos State.

Balogun who hails from Kwara State, was said to have walked into a shop belonging to one Sade, pretending to buy a slippers but made away with the purse after he had put it in his pant.

It was gathered that a member of a vigilante group in the neighbourhood gave Balogun a tough chase and he was caught putting the purse inside his pant.

Crime Alert gathered that on the penultimate day, Sade was asleep when Idowu walked into the shop but was attended to by her 12-year-old daughter, Karimo. Narrating her ordeal, Karimo said: “Balogun walked into our shop and requested for a pair of slippers. I asked him what size he wanted, he said he didn’t know, that I should bring all the sizes that was available.

After seeing the sizes, he asked me to return it that he wasn’t interested in buying any more. So, he left and hid in a corner. When he noticed that I had gone inside to return the slippers, he came back to the shop, took my mother’s purse that was on the table which contained her phone and the sum of N2,500 and hid it inside his pant.

“When I came out, my friend alerted me of what Idowu had done. I then woke my mother up, she came out of the shop to see Idowu crossing over to the other side of the road. She raised alarm which attracted the attention of one Tony Idowu, a member of the neighbourhood security watch and Balogun was given a hot chase.”

The security guard, Tony Idowu, while narrating his side of the story said he was asleep when he heard shouts of help and he ran to the scene to help.

“I ran to the scene of the crime and was told that a thief just got away with Sade’s purse. I asked for the description of the thief, then used my motorcycle to pursue him. I saw him trying to jump a fence to the other side. I confronted him and asked why he stole the purse.

“He bluntly denied and started harassing me. So, I asked him what he had in his panties and he said nothing and even wanted to fight me before I slapped him. It was then that he confessed that he was sorry for stealing the purse and that it was the devil’s handiwork.”

The guard later brought Idowu, the suspect to the leader of the Vigilante Group, Alhaji Saka and he was asked to call his family.