All items stolen from guests at the Lagos Oriental Hotel have been recovered less than 24 hours after CCTV footage showing the suspected thief went viral on social media.
An event planner, who was among the victims, confirmed the recovery of her belongings in a post on Thursday evening, expressing appreciation to those who assisted in the search.
The woman, who had earlier raised the alarm over the incident, disclosed that the recovered items included files the suspect had reportedly formatted, although she said the data could still be retrieved.
“Every item has been recovered; even tho he formatted the files it can still be retrieved back,” she wrote.
She also thanked those who supported the recovery efforts, saying, “A big thank you to everyone who came through to help out. God bless you.”
However, details about the suspect’s whereabouts remained unclear as of the time of filing this report. It was also not immediately known whether he had been arrested or handed over to security agencies.
The incident has attracted widespread attention, particularly because of claims that the suspect has been involved in similar thefts at public gatherings over several years.
One social media user, Kunle Kenny, recalled that the same man allegedly stole his bag containing valuable work materials about 10 years ago during an event organised by economist Pat Utomi at the MUSON Centre in Lagos.
He said the suspect was subsequently caught, with his photograph appearing on the Rapid Response Squad’s social media page.
Another individual, identified as @anonymousvisuals on Instagram, alleged that the suspect stole two laptops from him at the Oriental Hotel in August 2023.
According to his account, the man allegedly posed as a photographer, carried a camera around his neck and took the laptops from a bag.
The individual further claimed that he tracked the devices using Apple’s Find My service, which showed their location around Ojuelegba, Lagos.
In another account shared online, a social media user alleged that the same suspect stole a bag containing a laptop from a church along Oregun Road, Lagos, about two years ago.
The user said CCTV footage helped identify him and led to the recovery of the computer.
The latest incident involved an event planner whose bag reportedly contained a MacBook Pro M1 and four external hard drives holding materials from about five weddings yet to be delivered to clients.
She had offered a N500,000 reward for credible information that could lead to the identification of the suspect and recovery of her belongings.
The recovery of the items has brought relief to the affected professionals, whose equipment and stored materials represented not only significant financial investments but also months of work and memories entrusted to them by clients.
