The temporary joyous feeling of freedom by a fleeing prison inmate, Oyemachi Maduabuchi, was truncated by the Lagos State Police Command when he was rearrested on April 23, 2021, over the theft of a SIM card at church’s deliverance service.
Maduabuchi, aged 34, had escaped from the Owerri Correctional Centre, Imo State, after a jail break which occurred on April 5 at about 2am.
The suspect, who fled Owerri same day, reportedly moved to his village, Fegge in Onitsha, Anambra State, to meet his mother, who linked him up with his elder sister, Amarachi Maduabuchi, of Customs Bus Stop Ijegun, Lagos, which led to his invitation to her place on April 19.
The command’s police spokesman, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, who disclosed this on Tuesday, June 1, said that the suspect was kept in the sister’s house, from where she led him to a church for special deliverance service.
But it seemed he had yet to experience deliverance, as he was caught with the SIM and memory cards of a church member stolen during vigil on April 20 at Bride Assembly Church, Ijesha Area.
The PPRO stated further that Maduabuchi was eventually arrested, while the stolen items were recovered from him.
According to Adejobi, “in the course of police investigation, it was revealed that the suspect had been standing trial since 2009 for conspiracy, armed robbery and arson before Justice Nna Amadi of Ngbidi High Court 1, at Ngbidi in Imo State.
“The suspect has confessed to the crime, while the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Hakeem Odumosu, has directed that he should be handed over to the Nigerian Correctional Service for further investigation and necessary action.”
CSP Adejobi added that the Commissioner of Police assured the general public that the command would not relent in its efforts towards making the state safe and peaceful for all and sundry to live in.
