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.
It was 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.
It was 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.”
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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