A man simply identified as Sope Modupe, 45, was apprehended on Monday by a group of people for allegedly stealing a motorbike in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The incident happened at the hockey pitch during the ongoing athletics competition tagged, ‘Making of the Champions,’ organised and sponsored by telecommunication company, MTN, at Adamasingba Sports Complex, Ibadan.
An eyewitness, Abdulkareem Olanrewaju, told our correspondent that “Modupe, a 45-year old, kick-started the motorbike that belongs to one Olawale Ajibua (hockey athlete) with a master key. The thief was oblivious that the wife of the owner was observing him when he attempted to escape from the Adamasingba Sports Complex. The woman raised the alarm and sought help from the passersby to arrest the culprit.
“It was the timely intervention of the hockey coaches that prevented the mammoth crowd from lynching the thief who was handed over to the security agents within the premises. He has been remanded at the Mokola Police station for further interrogations.”
When contacted, the General Manager of the State Sports Council, Tunde Ajibike, confirmed the incident to our correspondent on the phone.
Ajibike said, “Yes, it was true. It took the intervention of sports fans and passersby to get him arrested. He has been handed over to the police. When the incident happened, I reported to my boss, the Commissioner for Youth and Sports.
“My Commissioner and I thereafter went to the Mokola Police station to see the Divisional Police Officer. He has been detained, and the DPO assured us that he will be charged to court any moment from now.”
All efforts to get the state Police Public Relations Officer, Adewale Osifeso’s reaction, were unsuccessful as his mobile number was not reachable as of the time of filing this report.
