Father allegedly caught stealing pot of soup, wraps of fufu in Bayelsa

A father of two has been arrested by a local vigilance group in Igbogene, a suburb of Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, for allegedly stealing a pot of soup and wraps of cassava meal popularly know as ‘fufu’.  

The local security caught the 35-year-old father of two, Kaduna Eradiri, red-handed in the process of consuming the pot of soup and over a dozen wraps of fufu from a canteen in the area in the wee hours of Thursday.

According to head of the Igbogene vigilance group, MoneySweet Asomo, the accused was apprehended around 2:00a.m. yesterday. Asomo said the accused, who is married and an indigene of Akassa community in Brass Local Council, claimed that hunger and economic hardship led him to steal the pot of soup and the foodstuff in order to feed his family.

“We were on patrol around 2:00a.m. When we got to the Timida School area, we saw a man at a local food joint eating. We questioned the culprit and he confessed to have stolen a pot of soup, some wraps of fufu and half basin of garri. He claimed it was the economic hardship that led him to the heinous act.”

The Guardian, however, gathered that the paramount ruler of the area, the Obenibe XI of Epie Kingdom, Hope Green Adike, intervened and asked them to parade him round the community with the stolen item as a deterrent to others. 

Enatimi was also made to eat from the stolen item in the presence of the indigenes of Igbogene and made to go away with the items. When contacted, the owner of the shop said she had given the permission to let him go , saying she did not have money for police case.