ABEOKUTA— A 42 year old suspected burglar, Onyekachi Okolo has been arrested for allegedly invading Alaba Lawson College located along Presidential Boulevard, Abeokuta, while carting away Properties belonging to the institution.
The suspect was fished out in an uncompleted building which serves as his hideout, after a series of surveillance placed on him by the security operatives of the college headed by one Moses Olowoake.
A visit to the abandoned building which is about three plots in size showed that the suspect had created a hole on the wall as passage for which leads him in and out to carry out his operations.
He was discovered that he converted one of the rooms in the building as his bedroom, while some cooking utensils were discovered in the house, as well as remnants of Indian Hemp found in another room, when the police visited the scene.
On interrogation, the suspect said he was employed by a ‘ghost landlord’ to be in charge of the building and look for tenants to occupy the house, which was established to have being abandoned over a decade
He further said that he has lost contact with the said ‘landlord’, and has since being residing in the building which is located inside a forest, adding that it was because no salary offered by the unknown landlord that he resorted to stealing
The Proprietress of the college, Iyalode Alaba Lawson speaking on the development commended the security officials of the college for the proactive measure exhibited to apprehend the suspect and thanked police for quick response.
The Iyalode of Yorubaland also expressed appreciation to God for exposing the alleged criminal early enough, adding that she never knew there was an abandoned building in the forest which shared fence with the college.
Lawson said with the shocking discovery, the school authorities will not waste time in clearing the forest within the next few days, and also called on the Ogun State Government to investigate the building and do the needful before the crimes within the hideout escalate.
The suspect has been handed over to the police for prosecution.
