‘How we were stealing parked vehicles’

A 39-year-old member of a syndicate the police said specialized in stealing vehicles from where they were parked, Yomi Olamide, has narrated the gang’s modus operandi. The gang was busted when its members allegedly stole one Volkswagen LT commercial bus from where it was parked along Etegbin Road, Ajangbadi, Ojo, and drove it to Atan, […]

A 39-year-old member of a syndicate the police said specialized in stealing vehicles from where they were parked, Yomi Olamide, has narrated the gang’s modus operandi.

The gang was busted when its members allegedly stole one Volkswagen LT commercial bus from where it was parked along Etegbin Road, Ajangbadi, Ojo, and drove it to Atan, Ogun State, where it was to be sold.

Olamide, who has been transferred to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) for proper investigation, told police interrogators that the gang had some young boys who they posted as scouts to selected points for vehicles that could be easily stolen.

The suspect said that with information provided by their scouts, the operational members of the gang would then move in with their master keys to steal such vehicles effortlessly.

“How does it work? Some of the boys you see roaming the streets aimlessly may be on the payroll of one gang or the other. They are given specific tasks by their bosses to supply information.

“Those in our gang go out to look for any vehicle parked always at a particular spot, after which we will go to that place in the night to remove it,” he narrated.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Bala Elkana, who spoke on the arrest of the suspect, said that effort was on to arrest the other members of the gang.

Elkana said, “On July 26, 2019, at about 7.30am, one Amaechi Ude of No 15, Etegbin Road, Shibiri, Lagos, reported at the Ilemba Alahusa police station that his LT bus, registration number JJE 713 XH, had been stolen by unknown thieves from where he had parked it on Etegbin Road.

“A team of detectives led by Inspector Kehinde Kareem swung into action and visited all the mechanic workshops and scrap sellers workshops within the area to no avail.

“Acting on credible information, we extended our investigation to the Atan axis of Ogun State. There, the vehicle was recovered and one Yomi Olajide, aged 39, of No 14, Oremeji Street, Toll Gate, Ogun State, was arrested while driving the said vehicle.

“In Olamide’s confessional statement, he stated that he and one Jamiu, surname unknown, of Tollgate, Ogun State, who is at large, came to remove the said vehicle from where it was parked  with their master key, which the police also recovered from him.”