LAWMA staff caught trying to steal cable in Lagos.

An official of the Lagos State Waste Management Authority has been arrested for allegedly stealing electricity cables in Lagos‎. Ibrahim Alli, 29, was a member of a two-man syndicate which specialized in vandalizing and stealing power cables, the police said in a statement Sunday.

The suspect was apprehended by Rapid Response operatives of the Lagos State Police Command on September 25 at about midnight in Opebi, Lagos. ‎The police said that Mr. Alli, who works with LAWMA at Onipanu,‎ was caught in the act by the RRS patrol team led by Supol Aroge, while his gang leader simply identified as Yunusa escaped.

Joe Offor‎, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer who confirmed the arrest, said that the police officers were on routine patrol when they sighted the two men. “They were in the act of vandalizing the street light power cable, which had left the entire community in blackout,” Mr. Offor said. “As the policemen were approaching, the two of them took to their heels, and immediately the operatives made a hot chase while one of the suspect was apprehended, the second suspect escaped.

“The suspect from his statement revealed that the suspect and his gang member were in the habit of vandalizing and stealing the power cable which always has adverse effect on the entire community by letting the area in total blackout several times.” The police statement further claimed that the suspect, who is ‎a native of Yola Local Government in Adamawa State, confessed to the crime, saying that greed led him to the crime.

“I am a staff of Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) at Onipanu, but I was not contented with my meagre salary,” the police quoted Mr. Alli as saying in his statement. “And my friend, Yunusa, introduced this act of robbery to me. On the midnight, I and Yunusa, went to Opebi in Lagos to steal street light cable. While I was arrested, Yunusa, who is my leader, escaped.

“It is him, Yunusa, who used to sell the cable and I don’t know the receiver. I only assist him in vandalizing the cables. He only gives me 1,000 or 1,500 after the sales.” The exhibits recovered from the suspect, according to the police, include vandalized electric cable, shovel, LAWMA Identity Card bearing his name, and one wristwatch. The police ‎said that the suspect had been charged to court.