A 25-year-old Liberian refugee, Mr. Moses Andrel, and four others have been arrested by the police in Lagos for allegedly snatching 15 vehicles in different parts of the country.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the robbery syndicate was arrested by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Lagos State Police Command on October 19.
Apart from Andrel, other members of the gang arrested were: Mahmud Tanko, Musa Yusuf, Abayomi Adebayo and Israel Nana.
According to the police, the gang members were arrested from different hideouts in the country including Abuja and Akwa Ibom.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the vehicles stolen by the gang, which have now been recovered by the police, ranged from Toyota Camry to Mitsubishi Outlander Sports Utility Vehicle.
Andrel told journalists at the command headquarters that his modus operandi was first to get employed as a driver only to steal his employer’s vehicle. He added that the gang members were his links to getting the vehicles sold.
He said, “I am a citizen of Liberia. I came to Lagos in 2003 as a result of the civil war in my country. I came as a refugee. I had completed only secondary school in Liberia. Since I arrived, I have been working either as a private or company driver.
“I know two of the gang members. They usually get the buyers for the stolen vehicles. My strategy for robbery is to try and be employed as a driver. After getting employed, I would flee with the vehicle and take it to the gang for sale.
“Four of the recovered vehicles were stolen by me. I had snatched them from Ikoyi, Magodo and Victoria Island areas of Lagos at different times this year. The gang was able to sell two of them. They sold the first for N1.8m and the second for N1.2m.”
Andrel added that he was, however, arrested inside a banking hall in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State by SARS operatives through a tracking device.
“I had gone to make a transaction inside a bank in Uyo. That was where the police arrested me. It was just last year that I ventured into car robbery. Now, I regret doing all this and I know I have failed my country, my family and myself,” he said.
Meanwhile another gang member, 53-year-old Adebayo, said his role in the operation was to change the engine numbers of the stolen vehicles.
He said, “I work originally as a panel beater in Idimu, Lagos. My workshop is behind the Police Children College in the area. The gang usually brings the cars to my workshop and I forge new chassis numbers on the engines so that they can be sold easily.
“I have two files which I use for doing this. It was one Alhaji Balogun who introduced me to the gang. I have done this on about five vehicles. The gang usually pays me N25, 000 for each vehicle. The police arrested me in my house. I had built a house partly from proceeds of these deals.”
One of the victims, Mr. Dipo Ashafa, a Lagos-based engineer, who came to the command headquarters to collect his recovered vehicle, claimed that Andrel had stolen the Toyota Camry from his office in August 2014.
He said, “The vehicle was stolen from my company’s premises on Ozumba Mbadiwe Street, Victoria Island in August this year. While I was inside the office, the gang struck and my car got stolen. I then reported to the police, and they began the search. It was finally recovered from Calabar, Cross River State. I am happy to have it back.”
The Commissioner of Police, Cornelius Aderanti, while restating the command’s resolve to tackle crimes in the state, said owners of the recovered vehicles should show up with evidence to regain their property.
He said, “These suspects engaged themselves in snatching vehicles from innocent citizens in different parts of the country. But today, the long arm of the law has caught up with them. We have about 15 recovered vehicles, and one of the owners has also come today to claim his property.
“All the suspects have confessed to the crime, and are helping the police in further investigation.”
Our correspondent noted that the registration numbers of the recovered vehicles were MUS861CA, KTU615AV, BQ652AKD, MUS353CV, BDG370CQ, AAA487CA, AGB839RK, KRK449CL, KMM115AA, LSD394BG, KUJ132HT, KJA745BH, UW879KJA, ABJ89BK, and FJ611LSR.
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