NEMESIS has caught up with two
syndicates which specialized in the hijacking of heavy duty trucks along
Benin / Ore Expressway and the snatching/stealing of posh vehicles in
Ondo State.
Different vehicles and trucks were recovered from the
syndicates by detectives from the state Police Command. Sunday Vanguard
gathered that two suspects, Dele Olayemi and Ayo Akinde, were leaders of
one of the syndicates which specialized in stealing cars parked by
owners.
Olayemi….Claimed to have snatched 11 different vehicles. The
other syndicate, which specialized in the hijacking of heavy duty
trucks and petrol tankers, was said to have been coordinated by four
suspects, namely: Sunday Olufemi, Idowu Omowole, Ebenezer Onos and Akeem
Mayama,
All the suspects who have allegedly made confessional statements are in police
Speaking
with Sunday Vanguard, the leader of the syndicate that allegedly
snatched posh cars, Moses Olayemi, said he went into the business to
make money so as to build a house. “ My father married three wives and he refused to send us to school. I only went to primary school. “
I have been able to buy a land and what I am looking for is money to
start the building after which I want to marry. “ Some of my friends
introduced me into this business of snatching and stealing of cars,”he
stated. When asked how many vehicles he had stolen, he said he could
only remember the number of those he stole in the last 11 months. “
I can only remember that over 11 different cars were snatched and
stolen where the owners parked them by my gang in the last 11months.
“The receiver of the stolen vehicles, one Omo Ode, used to buy the
vehicles for between N80,000 and N140,000.” Dele explained that the
dealer usually changed the number plate and other parts of the vehicle
before selling to unsuspected buyers.
“We sold any jeep or posh
car that we stole for N140, 000 while we sold smaller cars, whether new
or old, for N80,000. “When we stole a car, we will remove its number and
register it with a new one.
“We would change some parts of the
vehicle so that the owner would not be able to identify it because most
of the cars are being used in Akure, the state capital” The suspect,
however, wondered why the dealer, popularly called ‘Oluomo’, who usually
bought the stolen vehicles from them, was not arrested alongside them.
On
how he stole vehicles, he said, “ I will enter the market, buy ignition
key. I will use the key to test the car. If it starts, I will take the
vehicle away; if not, I will leave it and run away.” Sunday Vanguard
gathered that Dele ran out of luck when, at gun point, in front of UBA,
in Akure, he snatched a Nissan Almera car. Detectives swung into action
after the matter was reported to the police and the car was later
recovered at Oba Akoko area of the state with many of its parts
replaced. Ondo State Police Commissioner Mike Ogbodu said the suspects
would soon be charged to court.