How Armed 16-Year-Old Pupil Allegedly Robbed Boutique in Lagos

A 16-year-old pupil, Bolaji Bello has reportedly been remanded by a Lagos magistrates’ court sitting in Ikeja for allegedly robbing a boutique on Tijani Street, Ilemba Awori, in the Ajangbadi area of the state.

Punch gathered Bello, a Senior Secondary School 1 pupil, and one Friday, now at large, had on December 15, around 10pm, went to the shop under the pretext of buying clothes.

They had selected some shirts, a pair of trousers and a cap worth N10,500, and had pretended to be making payment to the shop owner, identified as Okeke Ikenna, when they reportedly brought out a gun and a cutlass, ordering him and his girlfriend who was also at the shop, to lie down.

Apart from the clothes, they reportedly dispossessed their victims of two Tecno phones valued at N30,000; an LG phone worth N29,000 and one Infinity phone valued at N15,000, as well as a cash sum of N54,000.

They had left the shop when some passersby got wind of their operation and gave them a chase, leading to Bello’s arrest. He was subsequently handed over to the police at the Ilemba Hausa Division from where he was transferred to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Ikeja, for investigation.

Bello reportedly confessed to the crime, saying it was his first time and he was initiated to it by the fleeing Friday.

He was subsequently arraigned before a presiding magistrate in Ikeja, Mrs. O. Olanipekun, on Thursday, on two counts of robbery to which he pleaded not guilty.

The defence counsel told the court that Bello’s age, which is 16, had been falsified on the charge sheet as 19.

The observation prompted Olanipekun to go through the statement Bello made to the police after which she discovered that he was actually 16 years old.

The magistrate subsequently ordered that the suspect be remanded in the Children Corrective Home while his case file be forwarded to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions for legal advice.

The case was adjourned till February 1, 2016.