Ademola said that the business of
selling stolen phones has made him popular at the planks market at Okobaba,
Yaba Lagos. He disclosed that he used to patronise mobile phone sellers and
resell the phones at giveaway prices.
He said: “My travail started about a
year ago, after I gave N2 million to two of my Ijaw customers, Austin and
Mathew. The two of them used to supply me timbers. They disappeared with my
money and till date, I have not set eyes on them. Last year, a phone repairer, Idris,
came to me with handsets; I bought them from him and sold them at the Computer
Village, Ikeja. I made good profit. That was how I started buying
handsets from him. I knew he was dealing on stolen handsets, but I just thought
I had to survive the situation. My plan was to go back to my timber business
after making enough money from the phone business.
“I knew that the phones I bought
from Idris are stolen ones, but I had no option. I regret the whole thing
because even my wife is not aware that I buy stolen phones side by side my
timber business; it is shameful for me. I promise to leave Lagos State
completely if I’m pardoned.”
Idris Balogun, 26, the man who
steals the phones, blames his involvement in phone theft on a fire incident
that gutted his resident and destroyed all his belongings last year.
He said: “All this started last year
after fire gutted the house I lived in and destroyed all that I had. I started
visiting clubs, especially Badilos Club at Sabo, Yaba to steal patrons’
handsets and sell to Benjamin. I knew what I was doing was bad, but I couldn’t
help the situation.”
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