A 28-year-old technician, who absconded with a customer’s Toyota car meant for repairs at Ladipo market in Mushin area of Lagos, has been arrested by operatives of Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS.
The suspect, Michael Okechukwu Eze, was asked to repair air conditioner of the car, December 20, 2017. When the owner contacted him on phone to know when the car was ready, he was by Eze informed that the car had been stolen.
But his disappearance from his workshop aroused the suspicion of the car owner, who alerted policemen at Ilupeju division.
Speaking with journalists Tuesday at the headquarters of the Lagos State Police command where he was paraded alongside 17 other suspects, the 28-year-old blamed his indulgence on his inability to raise money for his ailing mother’s treatment.
Eze stated that he decided to take the Toyota Corolla in particular because its owner once told him his insurance company would replace it in case of any eventuality.
He said: ” I have known the owner of the car since 2015. I am not a thief, this is my first time of stealing a customer’s car. I did it because I don’t have money to take my mother to the hospital.
.One of my friends, Promise Israel told me he knew someone who buys stolen cars in Edo state. I decided to steal this particular car because the owner once said that his car was insured and that in the event of theft or accident, his insurance company would replace it.
“We contacted a man that would drive the car to Benin. But on reaching there, the buyer said he would pay us after selling the car. When the owner of the vehicle called, I told him that it had been stolen.
He added “I avoided my workplace because I wanted to collect my share of the money from the sale of the car and travel home to attend to my ailing mother. I was still expecting to get the money when I got a telephone call from my in-law, who stood as guarantor for me. He told me to come and see him unknown to me that he was with the Police.
“Initially, I maintained that the car was stolen. But when I got to SARS, I opened up. ”
The suspect along with fleeing accomplices would be charged to court.
