The Delta State Police Command has arrested two notorious phone snatchers, including one Oliver Osadebe, along Summit Road, Asaba.
In an X post on Monday, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Delta, SP Bright Edafe disclosed that the suspects were nabbed during a routine stop-and-search operation.
He said officers stopped and searched a commercial tricycle (popularly known as keke) during which seven mobile phones were found in the rider’s possession.
Edafe disclosed that no passenger inside the tricycle could unlock the phones, raising suspicion that the phones were stolen, which prompted further investigation.
Sharing a video of the incident, the police image-maker said, “As you go about your activities this week, for those who board tricycles and commercial vehicles, hold your phones in your hands.
“If any male passenger is coughing, just mind your business and hold your phone firmly. Listen and learn.”
He also defended police routine stop-and-search operations, saying it was a vital strategy to nip crime in the bud.
Edafe said, “During stop and search, they were searched along Summit Road (Asaba). The policemen recovered seven phones from one of them. It aroused their suspicion and they said ‘put on these phones and enter the password’.
“They could not access the password. Hence, they were brought to the office. Before they were even brought to the office, the owners of these phones have already started calling.
“Most of them have come and they have claimed their phones.”
A female victim interviewed by the police spokesman confirmed that her phone was snatched inside the tricycle.
The victim, who did not disclose her name for security reasons, said one of the suspects was coughing and acting like an imbecile, which was a calculated plot to distract the passengers.
She said she chose to alight from the tricycle because of the suspect’s persistent coughing, only to discover that her phone was nowhere to be found after the tricycle sped off.
One of the suspects, Oliver Osadebe said he had been involved in phone snatching before travelling to South Africa in 2021.
He said he resumed operation in 2023 upon his return to Nigeria.