DETECTIVES from the Zone 2 Police Command have smashed a gang of a car-snatching syndicate, with the entire four members, including two females, in Police custody.
The suspects, Adams Michael, 44; Ojokola Mathew, 40; Osikhena Mercy, (f) 27 and Ejeh Esther, (f) 29, were apprehended following a petition to the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 2, AIG Ali Mohammed Ari, by one Akolawole Omowunmi.
The thrust of the petitioner’s complaint, dated 8th May 2023, according to SP Hauwa Idris-Adamu, the Zonal Police Public Relations Officer (ZPPRO), was that, he (Akolawole), who uses a silver Toyota Camry saloon car, 2009 model, with registration number: BDG 80 HU for Uber services received a call from the principal suspect, Adams, who booked a ride from Lekki Phase 1 at Presken Hotel.
On arrival at the venue, the Uber driver stated that Adams told him to cancel the ride and take an offline trip, under the guise of engaging his services for three days, which the Uber driver gladly obliged, without any iota of suspicion.
However, according to the ZPPRO, in a statement, at about 8:00 pm the same day, the principal suspect, Adams, called the Uber driver to take him and his girlfriend to a supermarket in Lekki.
To accomplish his ulterior motive, Adams, on arrival at the said supermarket, intentionally left his phone in the car and requested the driver to come along with him and his girlfriend to the mall to shop.
While at the mall, the suspect exclaimed that he left his phone in the car, and requested the car key from the driver, who was apparently overwhelmed, fell to the trick and swallowed the bait hook, line and sinkers.
“When the petitioner waited a while and did not see the suspect return to the mall, he went out of the mall and realised that his car had been removed from where it was parked, only for him to sight the car driven at high speed on the other side of the road”, the statement revealed.
According to the ZPPRO, “Detectives from the Zonal X-Squad Section swung into action and, with his phone number, tracked Adams’ location to somewhere around Edo and Delta states”, following which, Idris-Adamu said, “On 24/05/2023, detectives from the Zonal X-Squad moved to Edo/Delta states, where the principal suspect (Adams) and three others were arrested”.
Two vehicles, the stolen Toyota Camry car and a Lexus 300 Jeep, believed to have equally been stolen, were recovered from the suspects.
She further stated that investigation was ongoing, adding that on its completion, the suspects would be charged to court.
Eighteen-Eleven Media