A young job seeker and graduate of
Political Science, University of Benin, Dickson Ogiemwonyi, aged 24, is
currently cooling off in a police cell following his alleged involvement
in a car theft. He allegedly bought the vehicle for N130,000 from an
armed robbery gang.
Parading the suspect and others, operatives
of the Edo State Police command yesterday, arrested and paraded a
five-man robbery gang, which specialise in car snatching in the state,
leading to the recovery of five vehicles snatched at gunpoint across
various parts of the state.
Ogiemwonyi said he was contacted by
an auto electrician, identified as Samson Alao, aged 26 years, who is
also in police custody, to buy the Lexus Jeep at N500,000 but bargained
for N130,000, which unknown to him was a stolen SUV said to be worth
over N2 million.
Ogiemwonyi, who claimed the auto electrician was
a familiar friend, said he had no idea that the SUV and other cars he
has acquired through him could have been stolen, despite it being sold
at very low prices without relevant and valid documents.
“I have
paid N130,000 for the Jeep and already changed the colour from gold to
red. I never knew my friend who confessed to the police that he sold the
stolen car to me was into car snatching. I know him to be an
auto-electrician and car dealer,” Ogiewmonyi said.
According to
the police spokesman, Abiodun Osifo, the arrest of Ogiewmonyi led to the
recovery of five other cars as he made useful information leading to
the arrest of other accomplice and car snatching syndicate.
Others
arrested in connection with the crime included a 54-year-old Godwin
Itanu, an auto spray painter, who the police described as an accomplice,
as he was in possession of three cars snatched by the syndicate in his
workshop.
Godwin, while narrating his level of involvement, said
it was unknown to him that the said SUV was a stolen vehicle, adding
that Ogiewmonye was the son of his customer of over 16 years, whom he
had sprayed their vehicles and never suspected that the son of his
age-long friend and customer have become a criminal, who deals on stolen
cars.
The auto spray painter said he was arrested when policemen
stormed his workshop with the said Ogiewmonye to ask questions
concerning a Lexus 300 Jeep, which the said Ogiewmonye contracted him to
change the colour from gold to red.
Osifo said the breakthrough
was made possible following a tip off on the criminal activities of the
gang and the consequent raid and arrest of the gang at their various
hideouts. He warned members of the public to only purchase genuine
vehicles with relevant document and advised spray painter to always
request for valid particulars of vehicles when contacted by owners
before agreeing to spray any vehicle, particularly when such vehicles
involve changing its original colour.
He added that the five
exotic vehicles recovered from the syndicate include one registered
Toyota Camry car with registration number Edo: BEN 443 DP, and four
other unregistered vehicles, namely Toyota Matrix, Lexus 300 SUV, Ford
saloon car and Nissan Primera.
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