Hassan Abdul, a 27-year-old motorcycle thief in the city of Lokoja and its surrounding areas, has been taken into custody by agents of the Lokoja Vigilante Group of Nigeria.

Abdul was taken into custody in Lokoja on Friday night.

Abdul allegedly belonged to a syndicate suspected of carrying out a string of violent motorbike thefts in Lokoja, the capital of Kogi State, and was accused of stealing over ten motorcycles in the previous three months.

Speaking about the arrest, Chief Hassan Yusuf, the state’s Vigilante Group Commander, stated that Hassan Abdul, the culprit, was taken into custody yesterday after he stole a motorcycle from a victim at GSM Village in Cantonment, Lokoja.

According to Yusuf, the syndicate used to operate between Ayinbga and Lokoja, saying the syndicate from Ayinbga usually come to the Lokoja axis to dismantle the motorcycles and take them to Ayinbga.

Mr Yusuf said the suspect, who hails from Ayinbga in Kogi East, was arrested on Friday in the former Nassara Cinema area of Lokoja.

He said the suspect said in his confessional statement that he started stealing motorcycles about three years ago and that on the day he was arrested, he stole a motorcycle parked in front of Lokoja GSM Village in Cantonment.

“He said he has a special key which he uses to unlock and steal motorcycles,” Yusuf said.

The Vigilante Group Commander stated that a discreet investigation revealed that the suspect had stolen over 10 motorcycles in Lokoja.

He said the suspect confessed that he usually sold the stolen items to his buyers for N150,000.

He said the level of success of the issue of security generally in Kogi state was attributed to the synergy with all security agencies and the journalists from the timely dissemination of information.

In response, Comrade Salihu Abubakar, the chairman of the Association of Phone Technicians and Accessories Dealers’ Kogi State branch, where the motorcycle was taken, urged the security services to make sure the culprit faces charges.

He said that will discourage others from doing the same.

“A lot of our customers’ motorcycles have been stolen here,” Abubakar clarified. We have informed the security services about a number of motorcycle theft occurrences. We are grateful that we were able to make an arrest yesterday.

He emphasized, “We would like to use this platform to urge the security services to make sure that this suspect is prosecuted.”