Father of five nabbed while selling stolen car

Another arrested in Maiduguri after fleeing with Indian boss’ SUV
A 41-year-old man has been arrested by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Lagos State command, for snatching a Toyota Corolla car from its owner and attempted to sell it for N1 million in Ikorodu area of Lagos.

The suspect, a father of five, Ademola Adeyemo, and his fleeing partner in crime identified simply as T-Boy, boarded the car from Ikeja last September, to Ibadan. On the way, they ordered the driver out and zoomed off with the car. He was arrested seven months later at Car 45, Owode Onirin area of the state, at the verge of selling the stolen vehicle.

Narrating how he snatched the vehicle from its driver, the suspect said: ” I told him I wanted to urinate. He stopped and also alighted to urinate. T-boy took over the steering and we zoomed off. After one week, I changed the colour from silver to wine. I parked the vehicle for one month and started looking for buyer.

“I didn’t get a buyer until last Thursday, only for the buyer to detect that I was not the owner. The owner was contacted and he said it was stolen from him. I intended to sell the vehicle for N1 million and use part of the money for poultry business and the rest to pay my children school fees. Please, help me beg the owner to forgive me since I did not injure him. We did not use gun either,” he said.

The Guardian gathered that arrangement had been made to return the recovered vehicle to its owner. Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Elkana Bala, said the suspect would be charged to court.

Meanwhile, a 31-year-old driver, Abba Zamzam, who stole a Toyota Highlander SUV, belonging to his Indian boss and sold it off at a giveaway price of N500,000, is pleading for mercy, alleging that his boss, Kamal, was tormenting him spiritually.

Zamzam, who was arrested recently by operatives of the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT), who trailed him to Maiduguri, Borno State, where he fled to after absconding with the SUV, disclosed that his boss has been appearing and beating him in his dream whenever he was asleep.

He explained that he stole his boss’ vehicle because he refused to pay him his salary advance, which he said he needed to buy food for his wife, children and to also care for his sick mother in the village. He added that he became angry with his boss the moment he refused his request for salary advance.

At that point, he decided to run away with his vehicle, which he sold to a man identified simply as Adamu in Victoria Island, Lagos for N500,000. He took the money to his home in Borno, but was allegedly kidnapped by insurgents, who took the money from him before he was released.

Police sources at the IRT disclosed that Zamzam’s boss, Kamal, wrote a petition to the Inspector General of Police, Adamu Mohammed, pleading for the arrest of his driver. A crack team of operatives, drafted from the Lagos annex office of IRT, led by Philips Rieninwa, were deployed to Borno to track down the driver and recover the vehicle.

After weeks of combing Maiduguri metropolis, Zamzam was fished out from his hiding. He also led the operatives to Adam’s house where the SUV was recovered.