The operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested a man claiming to be insane in possession of 22 ATM credit cards, 2 mobile phones and power bank in Victoria Island area of Lagos, Southwest Nigeria.
The man, Lanrewaju Jaiyeola, 39, was intercepted by the operatives where he was sighted in a suspicious manner carrying a backpack on Ozumba Nbadiwe Road.
According to one of the police officers who arrested Jaiyeola, “when we sighted him, he appeared like a mentally sick man but we invited him for interrogation, he answered and responded normal to all our enquiries.
“Afterwards, he started straying from the normal course of our enquiries. This raised further curiosity and we decided to check out his backpack. What we found was startling; 22 assorted credit cards, 1 Nokia phone with flat battery, a blackberry, a power bank, several bank tellers of recent bank transactions, and lots of invoices amidst numerous pieces of papers.
“On further scrutiny, we discovered that eight of the credit cards were still valid. Out of these; three would expire in 2018, another three would expire in 2017 while two would expire in 2016. All the credit cards bore different names and banks.”
Upon arrival at the RRS Headquarters in Alausa, the suspect made “statements suggestive of somebody disguising as a mad man to perpetrate crime around that axis.
“Initially, we noticed that he was mentally balanced because he was answering the questions posted to him adequately. But all of a sudden, he started to sound incoherent and illogical again,” the officer explained.
The police said that there is still more to what they had discovered from the supposed mad man.
While interrogating him, he threatened the investigative police officer, saying “I will make life unbearable for you if you don’t let me go. It was at this point we realised that possibly he might be enjoying the patronage of some highly placed people whom we believe he might working for,” the officer added.
It was further learnt that the suspect was on the watch of the police for about two weeks before he was arrested on Wednesday.
The suspect has been transferred to Special Anti-Robbery Squad where he is expected to be subjected to further investigations and psychiatric examinations.