Robbery Allegation: Mother Disowns Her 16-year-old Son

A woman, who operates a restaurant at Iyana-
Iba area of Lagos metropolis, has disowned her
16-year-old son, Ibeh, over robbery allegation.
Police detectives in Lagos arrested Ibeh for being
in possession of a toy gun. The teenager,
however, insisted that he was not a robber.
The police accused Ibeh of using the toy gun to
rob unsuspecting passengers in traffic at night at
Iyana- Iba.
When his mum heard that her son had been
arrested over allegation of robbery, she promptly
disowned him.
According to Ibeh, his mum didn’t try to beg the
police to leave him. Ibeh, who dropped out of
school in primary three, used to wash buses and
motorcycles at a carwash.
He said: “Before they took me to
the police
station, they took me to my mother.
But my mum and I had been having a strained
relationship. She allowed the police to take me
away.
She said I used to give her too much problems.
She even said that whenever she asked me to
wash used plates in her restaurant, I would run
away. People told me that she had disowned
me.”
Ibeh said that he was arrested with a toy gun at
Iyana-Iba after he and his friend found the gun
inside a bag.
He added: “I have not used the toy gun to rob
anyone! I was walking with one of my friends at
Iyana- Iba, when we saw a bag on the floor.
When we opened it, we found a black toy gun.
We found it around 9p.m. We were still there,
discussing what to do with the gun when I was
arrested by the police.
“The police didn’t want to listen to anything I
had to say about the toy gun.
My friend first noticed the policemen and took to
his heels. I also tried to run away but I was
caught.
With our move to run away, they concluded that
we were the ones robbing passengers in traffic
at night.
I tried all I could to explain to them that I just
found the gun in a bag by the roadside, but they
wouldn’t listen.”
The suspect said that he dropped out of school
after he discovered he could not cope.
He added: “My mother was not really interested
in my schooling. But the way things are going for
me now, I don’t like it at all. I’m really interested
in going back to school.”