The alleged theft occurred around 11:50 p.m. during the Festival of Lights event in downtown Riverside, on Dec. 5.

The suspect had asked the artist for a portrait of himself, but just as the caricaturist had finished, the suspect grabbed the artist’s money bag containing roughly $500 and fled on foot — leaving the drawing behind.

The Riverside Police Department posted a photo of the drawing on its Facebook page, seeking the public’s help in identifying the suspect.

“DO YOU RECOGNIZE THIS CARICATURE? And no, we are not kidding,” police said.

The suspect was described as a black male in his early 20s, about 5 feet 1 inch tall with an average build, black hair, and moustache. Police said he was last seen wearing a blue and red jacket, white undershirt, black pants, and a red hat.

“This caricature is of the suspect, but of course, has exaggerated characteristics and features,” police added.

Mr Olu Adenipekun, who is the council’s Head of National Office, said this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

He said “Let me make it clear that in the real sense of it, our certificates are issued only once, irrespective of who is involved or the circumstance that led to the misplacement, and that remains the truth of the matter. We do not issue our West African Senior School Certificates Examination (WASSCE) twice. But, if we have such cases of theft, fire, flood and others, as it concerns these certificates, yes, in reaction to our operational environment, we can consider the issuance of an ‘attestation certificate. About five years ago, the council, that is, the highest governing body met and took a decision on this, stressing that there is no test body that issues two of its certificates to a single candidate in one examination. But, if a candidate should experience such losses through fire, flood or theft and can provide all the necessary proofs required to that effect, that will show such things actually happened to his or her certificate, there are certain steps such candidates are expected to take before approaching the council for further action, It is this certificate that we give out, and not re-issuance of another certificate. This is what we have been doing for the past five years now. We have many Nigerians who have benefitted from this, because it is like a replacement of the real certificate. These people who have benefitted from this come from all the stratum of the society.”