Shoplifting: Police Rescue Four from Mob Action

Rebecca Ejifoma

Operatives attached to Surulere Police Division have rescued four men from a mob after they allegedly shoplifted in a supermarket in the Surulere area of Lagos State.

The suspects are Babatunde Ogunsemi, 48; Olatunde Ayinde, 50; Oludare Olusegun, 49; and Sunday Ebifega, 41.

The state Police Public Relations Officers (PPRO) SP Benjamin Hundeyin, noted that: “The suspects were rescued and thereafter arrested following the swift deployment of officers after the police received a distress call from members of the community about the mob action.”

The suspects were said to have entered into the supermarket and attempted to steal before they were apprehended.

According to Hundeyin, preliminary investigation revealed that the suspects had been captured on CCTV on September 1, 2022, pilfering six bottles of Martell Blue Swift Cognac from the same supermarket.

He said one of the suspects, Sunday, had been previously charged to court last year for a similar crime, adding that: “The suspects would be arraigned after the investigation.”

Meanwhile, the state Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alabi, commended residents for always promptly alerting the authorities to suspicious persons and happenings.

He, however, sternly warned members of the public against jungle justice, “as it is a crime itself.”