According to the girl in the shop (Names witheld), the
young man walked into the shop and began to ask for a satchet of cold table
water. It was further alleged that as the young lady went into the inner part
of the shop to collect the satchet of water the man quickly went for the purse
which the lady left on a chair. But unknown to him, the sale girl had seen him
pick the purse. Handing the water over
to the young man, the sales girl said that she began to ask for her purse from
the man, upon which he tried to deny having anything to do with her purse. As
the. began to raise an alarm over the theft of her purse, the man began to beg
her not to do so and told her that it was the work of the devil.
But then it was too late for the young man; as co-shop
owners, sales boys and girls from nearby shops, passers-by, including Okada men
have besieged the area. On realizing that the young man had made confessional
statement to the young lady, he was beaten to pulp, while men of the anti-crime
patrol in the area were quickly contacted. It was when the security agents got
to the scene of the incident that the young man was taken from the angry mob and
driven to an unknown destination.
Some of these who witnessed the incident variously
condemned the act. They said that
unemployment, which is one of the reasons that the young man gave for
stealing someone’s purse is not enough for him to do so, as it is the duty of
every able-bodied youth to fend for himself in a honest way. They also advised
the sales girl to be wary of those who visit the shop with the aim of buying
one thing or the other; as it not all of them that have genuine reasons to go
to shops.
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