An alleged thief in Lagos erroneously exposed himself after taking and posting a selfie, with a phone he stole with the Instagram account of his victim.

The man who apparently did not know how Instagram works took the selfie hours after an operation in Ago Palace way in Lagos, Nigeria.

He and some others allegedly raided a house and made away valuables including the phone, a Samsung Galaxy Note 5, laptops and some expensive pieces of jewelry.

A sister of the victim, Folawale Ariran, shared the suspect's photo with an appeal to members of the public to assist in apprehending him.

She wrote:

"Good morning everyone. Please, this person just robbed my brother's house last night. He stole phones, laptops and expensive jewelry at Ago Palace Way, Okota, Lagos. He used one of the phones, - a note 5 -, to post on Instagram about three hours ago. Apparently, he doesn't know how it works because he posted his selfie through my brother's account. Please retweet until we find him. Please call 09098009221 if you find anything."