A 25-year-old suspect, Ahmed (surname withheld), has confessed that he stabbed a commercial motorcyclist several times during an attempt by his two-man gang to snatch the victim’s okada.

Ahmed was recently arrested by Ondo State Police Command following the alleged crime.

The command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Olushola Olayinka Ayanlade, told Sunday Tribune that the suspect and his other gang member who escaped, had flagged down the motorcyclist, telling him to convey them to a particular destination.

However, the PPRO said, “on getting to a quiet spot, the gang members descended on the motorcyclist, with the arrested suspect stabbing him repeatedly with a knife.”

It was learnt that cries of the victim alerted residents of the area who rushed out and succeeded in apprehending Ahmed, while the second suspect, who initially made moves to escape with the motorcycle, eventually left it, fleeing when the victim’s sympathisers were closing in on him.

Narrating how he went for the foiled bike snatching to Sunday Tribune, the arrested suspect said: “On the day of the operation, at about 8 p.m., I went on surveillance for a motorcycle to snatch from its owner. I live with my accomplice, Gbenga, in an uncompleted building.

“We had planned the operation before going out. Gbenga had been doing it but it was my first time of joining him. Gbenga told me if we succeeded in snatching a bike, we would take it to Osogbo to sell.

“We waved down a commercial motorcyclist and told him to take us to a particular area. As we got to the spot and the motorcyclist stopped for us to get down, I drew out a knife while Gbenga held a screwdriver. I started stabbing him with the knife. The okada man began shouting, calling for help. I stabbed him the more and he fell, loosening his grip on the bike.

“As the residents came out, Gbenga jumped on the bike to ride off, but soon left it to escape when the sympathisers approached him.

“I also ran to hide under cassava plants nearby, unknown to me that our victim noticed it, even as he was bleeding. He was the one who informed community members that I hid there, leading to my being apprehended.”

The suspect said that he only stabbed the victim about three times, but the stab wounds the victim sustained were seen plastered in seven different places as he lay on hospital bed after medical treatment.

Ahmed, an ex-convict, confessed that he was once arrested with others for stealing logs and sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment.

He also disclosed that he was a drug addict, saying: “I’m a marijuana smoker. I used to mix it with Eric Moore and Jedi in a brown Risler. I would then take strong alcoholic drink. I used to be energised by the combination.”

He appealed to the government to have mercy on him.

The PPRO said that the suspect would be charged to court after the completion of investigation, while efforts are ongoing to apprehend the suspect at large. (Sunday Tribune)