*Suspect: We’re over 60 boys, living, sleeping under
Oshodi Bridge’
The suspect, Yusuph Ahmed, who said he had been
living under Oshodi Bridge since he was 13-year-old, said that the beggars were
his and other thieves regular receivers of stolen items.
He disclosed that he and other teenagers in Oshodi
survived by stealing and dispossessing passers-by of their phones and other
valuables.
He said: “Any phone I stole, I sell to Mohammed or Kudus. They are beggars in Oshodi. They buy most of the stolen phones from us.”
Ahmed was arrested on Friday, after stealing a Tecno Y6, which was recovered from his brother. He was along with Yusuph Agbaje, 25, from Oyo State. Agbaje was arrested in Agege for stealing a Blackberry curve from a commuter.
Ahmed stated that he along with other teenagers sleep in Oshodi under bridge and that it was from there they eke out a living by stealing phones and robbing passers-by of their valuables.
He said: “I sleep under Oshodi Bridge. We are over 60 teenagers sleeping there. The adults sleep in Ori – Pako. I was 13 years old when I started sleeping there. I keep my clothes there. I sleep around 8:00 p.m. or 9:00 p.m. There are some of us who do not sleep at all. They are the ones that used to alert us whenever the police are around. There are equally some who do not sleep because they go from one place to the other in Oshodi to rob. They rob late at night and very early in the morning.”
He continued: “After the death of my mother, my father abandoned us. He stopped taking care of us, leaving us to fend for ourselves. He stopped paying the monthly N600. I had to resort to packing granite to pay the monthly N600 for school fee. At a point, I couldn’t cope with the fee. I was just 12. I dropped out and I decided to run to Lagos. Since then, Oshodi Under Bridge has been my home.”
He said: “Any phone I stole, I sell to Mohammed or Kudus. They are beggars in Oshodi. They buy most of the stolen phones from us.”
Ahmed was arrested on Friday, after stealing a Tecno Y6, which was recovered from his brother. He was along with Yusuph Agbaje, 25, from Oyo State. Agbaje was arrested in Agege for stealing a Blackberry curve from a commuter.
Ahmed stated that he along with other teenagers sleep in Oshodi under bridge and that it was from there they eke out a living by stealing phones and robbing passers-by of their valuables.
He said: “I sleep under Oshodi Bridge. We are over 60 teenagers sleeping there. The adults sleep in Ori – Pako. I was 13 years old when I started sleeping there. I keep my clothes there. I sleep around 8:00 p.m. or 9:00 p.m. There are some of us who do not sleep at all. They are the ones that used to alert us whenever the police are around. There are equally some who do not sleep because they go from one place to the other in Oshodi to rob. They rob late at night and very early in the morning.”
He continued: “After the death of my mother, my father abandoned us. He stopped taking care of us, leaving us to fend for ourselves. He stopped paying the monthly N600. I had to resort to packing granite to pay the monthly N600 for school fee. At a point, I couldn’t cope with the fee. I was just 12. I dropped out and I decided to run to Lagos. Since then, Oshodi Under Bridge has been my home.”
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