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http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/citysun/2010/feb/17/citysun-17-02-2010-001.htmHe pretends to be a nice guy who would readily offer a free ride to a willing female. But he’s actually a criminal whose ploy is to rob his victims. Olalekan Kazeem is currently telling police detectives in Lagos why he’s been going about the city robbing women of their personal effects. He was arrested by the police after one of his victims sighted him in Lagos. He is currently cooling his heels in a police cell, awaiting his date with the law.
Khadijat Ope was one of his victims. Her ordeal happened on a hot, sunny Saturday in Ikorodu, a Lagos suburb.
That day, she had waited without success for a commercial bus to take her to Victoria Island. Just as the she was contemplating calling a cab, a private car, a Toyota Camry, stopped and the driver offered her a ride.
The young man driving the car, later identified as Olalekan Kazeem, said he too was going to the island but that he had already missed his way.
The 23-year old student, who had gone to collect her West African Examination Council (WAEC) result, promised to guide the man.
Few minutes into their journey, Kazeem pretended that the car had developed some fault and stopped.
After alighting and examining the car, Kazeem implored the girl to assist him in pushing the car. The unsuspecting girl dropped her bag inside the car and climbed out. In the bag were her handset, some money, her identity card, a WAEC certificate and two ATM cards. But as soon as she came out of the car, Kazeem started the engine and zoomed off with Ope’s belongings.
That was not all. Through the girl’s data on her birth certificate in her bag, Kazeem got the password for the girl’s ATM card and promptly cleared her account at the First Bank.
Khadijat wasn’t the only victim. Kazeem also employed the same method to rob another lady, Jennifer Chizoba, of the sum of N150, 000 and other personal effects.
Chizoba, who spoke with Daily Sun said: “When the man picked me, he stopped on the road, saying that his vehicle was bad. He begged me to assist him in pushing the car. While I was pushing the car, the man zoomed off with my bag containing N150,000 which my relatives contributed for me to set up a business.”
Many other girls have been similarly defrauded by Kazeem. But luck recently ran out on the man who has for long made life unbearable for his victims. He’s now cooling his heels in a police cell.
Kazeem, who is currently singing like a bird at the Alapere police station was arrested when one of the victims sighted him at a car wash at the Alapere area and called in the police. He was subsequently picked up.
Recovered from him were five female handbags, 28 ATM cards, 12 identity cards, four national ID cards, two voters registration card, a Joint Matriculation Examination result, and other items.
The suspect who claimed he only targeted women told Daily Sun that he decided to start robbing them because he had earlier been robbed by a woman.
He said his journey into crime began in November last year. According to him, somebody had given him the sum of N160,000 to keep on trust at the Eko Le Meridien Hotel, Lagos.
Said he: “That day, I decided to eat at the Ocean View Restaurant. As I was eating, two beautiful young girls appeared from the blues. I approached one of them and I even paid her bill of N2, 500. I also bought drinks for them.”
‘Why I rob only women’
In his words, trouble started for him when he was fondling the breasts of one of the girls. According to him, he was sucking the girl’s breast when he slept off. He regained consciousness the following day, he said, adding that the girl might have coated her breast with a sleep-inducing drug.
While he slept, he said, the girl searched his pockets and collected all the money. She was also alleged to have taken his car keys and stole the N160, 000 inside the car.
According to him, the man who gave him the money on trust did not believe the story even after he had explained what happened and ordered Kazeem detained for a week at a police station in Abeokuta, Ogun state.
“My real predicament started when my wife came to visit me at the police station and a policeman told her how I sucked a prostitute’s breast. My wife could not take the insult, so she abandoned me to my fate.”
After his release, Kazeem said he decided to avenge his humiliation on any woman he came across. “Any time I pick a woman, I derive immense pleasure in dealing with her. I regard all my victims as prostitutes because a responsible woman would not be looking for a free ride with a total stranger,” he informed.
Kazeem has a word of advice for ladies. “They should stop looking for free ride with strangers. They should try to patronize registered taxis.”
The 37-year old Abeokuta indigene begged those he had offended to forgive him but said they should thank God that he had no gun when he was perpetrating the act as he would have used it on them.
Another victim, a model, Cynthia Kodu said the man had also applied the same method to rob her of her handbag containing handsets, N18, 000, underwear and make-up.
Lagos state police spokesman, Mr. Frank Mba said preliminary investigations have shown that the man has robbed over 30 female victims.
Mba, who said the man would soon be charged to the court, warned members of the public to stop patronizing unregistered taxis. “They should go to the recognized taxi parks to board taxis,” he said.
