Operatives of the Delta State Police Command have rescued a suspected serial burglar from being lynched by angry mob in Effurun, Uvwie Local Government Area of the state.
It was gathered that the suspect identified as Akpomoghena was almost set ablaze on Thursday, May 19, after he was caught at Egbe Layout, Off Sokoh Estate Road.
According to report, a staff of Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), who was distributing electricity bills found the suspect wandering in the area.
The BEDC staff initially thought the suspect was a colleague as he was carrying a bag with tools.
However, upon interrogating him, the suspect began to fidget, raising the suspicion of the BEDC staff, who put a call across to a resident of the layout informing him that he found a stranger lurking around.
Thereafter, a mobile policeman at the gate of the layout was alerted and immediately mobilized to an apartment in a four-flat storey building where the thief had entered.
An eyewitness said that after a frantic search, the police and some residents gave up and left the apartment.
The owner of the apartment, Nsikak, later went into the kitchen to take some water from the fridge.
While in there, he heard a noise and then ran to alert others who immediately recalled the policeman to the scene.
After a more thorough search, the burglar was smoked out and apprehended in the kitchen where he was hiding.
Akpomoghena, who said he lived at Water Resources, Effurun, confessed that he had used a master key and a screw driver to open the three doors leading to the apartment.
He leaded to be pardoned, claiming that he took to crime because of his inability to raise money for his children’s school fees.
A bunch of keys, which he said could unlock different doors and cars, were recovered from his bag.
Also recovered were a screw driver and a gold-plated wristwatch which he confessed to have stolen from a parked Toyota Camry car somewhere in the layout.
The aggrieved residents descended on the suspect with clubs and whips after which they brought a tyre, a keg of fuel and insisted on burning him alive.
The timely intervention of police operatives from Ugborikoko Police Station saved the suspect from being set ablaze.
Some of the residents, who knew Akpomoghena, revealed that he had been severally arrested at different police stations for various crimes.
He was later whisked away to the Ugborikoko Police Station where, according to the police, he would be charged to court soon.
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