A Lagos wedding photographer has recovered her MacBook Pro and four external hard drives containing footage from five undelivered weddings, days after the bag was stolen from a bride’s room at Oriental Hotel and a ₦500,000 reward sparked a viral public hunt.
The theft occurred on October 31 while the photographer, known online as @deeeeoflagos, was covering a wedding at the Victoria Island hotel. The bag, left inside the bride’s room, held a MacBook Pro M1 and four hard drives loaded with photographs and videos from approximately five ceremonies still awaiting delivery to clients.
In an urgent social media appeal, she described the loss as devastating. “These are not just files. They are people’s once-in-a-lifetime memories, months of hard work and my livelihood,” she wrote, sharing clear CCTV footage of a man in green traditional attire entering the hotel, loitering, entering the room, and leaving with the bag. She offered ₦500,000 for credible information that would lead to the suspect’s identification and recovery of the items through the authorities.
The footage spread rapidly across X and Instagram. Multiple creatives and past victims came forward, identifying the man as a serial thief who has targeted photographers, videographers and event professionals at high-end Lagos venues for more than a decade. Some recalled earlier incidents at the same Oriental Hotel and other locations, with one describing him as the so-called “Lion of Lagos.”
The public pressure and circulating images of the suspect appear to have forced a quick resolution.
On Thursday, the photographer announced that every item had been recovered. The hard drives had been formatted, but she expressed confidence that the wedding files could still be retrieved. “Every item has been recovered; even though he formatted the files it can still be retrieved back. A big thank you to everyone who came through to help out. God bless you,” she stated.
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The swift recovery has brought relief to the five couples whose once-in-a-lifetime memories were at risk and has renewed calls for tighter security at major Lagos event venues, where vendors routinely leave valuable equipment in bridal suites and staging areas. The suspect’s current status remains unclear beyond the return of the property.