Two evading drivers who allegedly stole their employer’s 2010 Toyota Corolla in Ikoyi in Sango Ota, Ogun State with the stolen vehicle while they were allegedly looking for a buyer have been apprehended by the police in Lagos.
The Divisional Police Officer, DPO in charge of Ikoyi Division, Ikoyi, Lagos, CSP Tijani Mustapha N’abba, is credited with pulling off the feat. He reportedly received a report of the stolen car quickly and immediately gave the go-ahead to his crack team, which was under the direction of Inspector Tony Eigbokhan, to track down the evading drivers and recover the stolen car from them wherever they might be hiding.
Following the directives, the police team swung into action and tracked the two drivers identified as Moses Christian, 48, and Samuel Okanimme, 43 to Sango-Ota in Ogun State and arrested them with the stolen car while they were allegedly looking for a buyer for the car and brought them back to Lagos.
The police said the incident occurred on 8 July, 2022 in Ikoyi, Lagos when the suspects were sent by their employer, the Management of Twinwaters Development Limited to take the car to their mechanic to service it, but that instead, the drivers allegedly drove the car to Sango-Ota in Ogun State to look for a buyer for the car with registration No. EKY 639 FL valued at N3,100,000.
Police further alleged that when the complainant could not find the drivers and the car within 24 hours, the company quickly reported the theft to the DPO in charge of Ikoyi Division, Lagos leading to the arrest of the drivers and the recovery of the stolen car.
Christian and Okanimme were charged before the Tinubu Magistrate’s Court, Lagos on a two-count charge bordering on conspiracy and stealing.
Police Prosecuting Counsel, Inspector Salami told the court in the charge marked A/53/2022 that the defendants committed the offence on 8 July, 2022 at Twinwaters Development Limited at Ikoyi, Lagos.
Salami informed the court that the defendants betrayed the trust reposed in them by their employer and stole the company’s and fled with it to look for a buyer before they were tracked and arrested in Ogun State.
He said the offences, the defendants committed were punishable under sessions 411 and 287(7) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges and the Magistrate granted them N500,000 bail each with two sureties each in like sum.
The Magistrate adjourned the case till 1 September, 2022 for mention and ordered that the defendant be kept at the Ikoyi correctional facility till they perfected their bail conditions.