A 58-year-old suspected vehicle snatcher, Mohammed Sarki Ishaku, has narrated how he drugged his victim with sedative known as Valium 5 to run away with his car.
Ishaku who was paraded alongside his two other accomplices; Abubakar Garba popularly known as Mazamaza and Ibrahim Abu at the police headquarters in Makurdi on Tuesday confessed to have deceived his victim.
“I hired the motor (Sharon bus) and took it to the Benue State Teaching Hospital (BSUTH) after deceiving the driver. I bought him food and put Valium 5 inside the food,” he said.
The suspect added that he dumped the victim after he fell asleep, collect the key of the vehicle and drove off, explaining further that he would usually take such vehicles to Kastina state where he disposes them off.
Ishaku, a father of nine children claimed that he lives in Adamawa state but comes to Benue to operate with his two other partners who help him to also sell stolen vehicles, stressing that the police arrested him in the course of running away with the Sharon bus.
Meanwhile, the State Commissioner of Police, Omololu Bishi, who paraded the suspects, said that operatives of the command under his watch smashed the trio-criminal syndicate on February 1st, 2019 at about 6:00pm.
Bishi noted that the 58-year-old suspect was arrested during stop and search at North Bank axis of Makurdi when he could not offer any useful explanation on how he was in possession of the Sharon bus with registration number, FKJ 98 BU.
He said the vehicle which was later recovered from the suspect was found out to have been snatched from the driver and that further investigation led to the arrest of the other two members; Mazamaza, 40, of No. 3 Pipeline area in Otukpo and Abu of opposite central market, Ugbokpo in Apa local government area of the state.
The police commissioner added that another Honda Accord with registration number ABC 870 TS was recovered from the suspects who according to him specialised in hiring vehicles in Makurdi and Otukpo towns as passengers and then drugging unsuspecting drivers or vehicle owners with sedatives before dispossessing them of their vehicles.
Bishi said the suspects would soon be arraigned in court.
