Operatives of the Bayelsa State Vigilante Security Outfit stationed at the popular Tombia-Etegwe roundabout in Yenagoa Local Government area have arrested two notorious pickpockets who confessed to theft of several mobile phones.
The suspects, Daniel Michael Agu,33, from Abia State and Okpoh Kelvin,34, who hails from Bayelsa State, were arrested on Monday, May 12, 2025 following a tip off from a victim who identified them after they succeeded in collecting his phone inside a tricycle.
According to one of the suspects, Daniel, they have been earning a daily income from the nefarious act of pickpocketing using tricycles for several years within the Yenagoa metropolis.
The chairman of the Bayelsa State Vigilante Security Outfit, Hon. Doubiye Alagba disclosed that Daniel Agu, who is married with wife and children, has been on the wanted list of the vigilante outfit.
According to Alagba, the suspect is the ringleader of this pickpocket gang and has initiated many boys into this criminal act.
He further noted that these criminals, most times, use charms and diabolic means to steal valuables from their victims, and this arrest is a major crackdown on pickpockets.
Alagba also told newsmen that at about 11am on Monday, one Abasi (m) from Akwa Ibom state, boarded a tricycle and realised his mobile phone had been stolen.
He quickly boarded another tricycle and ran past the tricycle used by the gang of pickpockets. He stopped by the unit post of the Vigilante Service and laid a complaint to the officers, which led to a stop and search, and the culprits were apprehended.
“Several phones were discovered within their possessions including that of the complainant. On switching on one of the phones caught with them, the owner immediately called and said she was robbed by the suspects at a different location within Yenagoa,” Alagaba stated.
