Man Uses Boy As ‘Collateral’ To Steal Bags Of Rice In Lagos

• “She was deceived that those boys were the man’s brothers…”

EKOHOTBLOG reports that a retailer on Felicia Oke Street in the Olowora area of Lagos State, Olabisi Opeyemi, is smarting from the loss inflicted on her by a suspected thief who disguised as a customer to steal two bags of rice from her shop.

This online news platform gathered that the suspect, still at large, went to the shop on Thursday afternoon in company with two boys said to be about 15-year-old to buy two 50-kilogramme bags of rice.

It was further learnt that he made Opeyemi’s younger sister, Alima, who was in the shop at the time, believe that the boys were his brothers and that their mother also had a shop nearby.

The suspect, who left the boys behind, reportedly went away with the staple on a commercial motorcycle, promising that he would return soon to pay.

When he didn’t return several minutes later, one of the boys was said to have gone to search for him.  It was learnt that Alima raised the alarm as the other boy, who is a resident of the area, wanted to leave.

The trader thereafter realised she had been defrauded when the teenager told her that he didn’t know the man and that he was only asked to assist him in carrying a load at the shop.

However, it could not be ascertained whether the boy who went in search for the suspect was also used as ‘collateral’ as he didn’t return to the shop.

The shop had yet to open when our correspondent visited the neighbourhood around 11am on Friday.

Speaking on Friday, Opeyemi said she was devastated by the loss of the goods, adding that the theft had taken a toll on her capital.

She added that she did not report the incident to the police because she knew the boy’s poor mother who begged her to let go of the matter.

She said, “I was not at the shop when the incident occurred. I took ill and decided to rest at home. It was my sister who was at the shop. She called me on the phone and asked for the price of a bag of rice and I told her. She said it was a customer who requested the price.

“She didn’t get back to me to inform me that the person wanted to go with the goods. It was later when she realised she had been defrauded that she called me. She said the man went away with two bags of rice and told her that the man said she should give him some minutes to collect money from his mother at a nearby shop.

“She was deceived that those boys were the man’s brothers. He asked them to wait for him and left with two 50kgs of foreign rice worth N60,000. We later realised that he met one of the boys on the street and asked him to assist him to carry a load at our shop. The boy’s mother came yesterday (Thursday) and she was begging. I had to let go even though it is a huge loss to me,” the trader stated.

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