The Chairman of the Bayelsa State Vigilante Service, Doubiye Alagba, who confirmed the report, disclosed that the suspect also worked in the same plaza.
Operatives of the Bayelsa State Vigilante Security Service have apprehended 18-year-old Promise Okpo, over the alleged burglary and theft of mobile phones worth a million naira.
The suspect, a native of Okordia community in the Yenagoa Local Government Area of the state, was accused of burgling a shop at Akums Plaza located at Kpansia at about 11 am on Sunday and made away with new mobile phones of different brands.
The Chairman of the Bayelsa State Vigilante Service, Doubiye Alagba, who confirmed the report, disclosed that the suspect also worked in the same plaza.
Alagba broke into the shop using a soul-cutting blade and stole the mobile phones and other items like wireless head gear, and phone accessories, including receipts.
According to Alagba, the suspect was arrested by a team of Bayelsa vigilantes while trying to sell the phones after it was discovered the receipts were not his.
He urged “shop owners to be security conscious; they should possibly employ external security services to secure their business place at night and weekends".
Confirming the incident, a former Chief of Staff to the Bayelsa State Government, Mr. Talford Ongolo, who is the owner of the Akums Plaza shopping mall, also said the suspect is a “staff member of one of the companies in the plaza".
He noted that the “internal security men stationed at the plaza were a bit relaxed and didn’t monitor his activities, so he took advantage of them".
“The suspect took advantage of the familiarity with the security men and was able to overwhelm their system and successfully stole those items. I commend the vigilance of the Bayelsa State Vigilante Service for apprehending him and recovering those sleek phones that he stole," he added.
Meanwhile, the suspect has been handed over to Operation Don-Akpo security outfit for further investigation.