By Precious, Igbonwelundu

A 39-year-old ex-convict, Fred Okunnu and a conductor, Segun Adedigba have been arrested by the Lagos Police Command over alleged car theft.

Okunnu was alleged to be the leader of a syndicate that specialised in snatching imported fairly used vehicles between Lagos and Oyo.

According to the police, two other members of the gang had earlier been arrested and were currently in prison custody.

Parading the suspects, Police Commissioner, Hakeem Odumosu, said a red unregistered Toyota Corolla sports car and a BMW car with the dealer’s number plate were recovered from them.

He said a credible source had reported a case of conspiracy and armed robbery to the police after sighting the suspects negotiating to sell-off a suspected stolen vehicle at a notorious black spot at Akala in Mushin.

Odumosu said: “On July 3, around 6:30 pm, information was received that a syndicate of armed robbers had converged at a black spot in Akala area of Mushin, Lagos State to sell their robbed items.

“Upon the receipt of the information police operatives were drafted to the area and one Adedigba Segun was arrested and confessed that one Fred Azeez

Okunnu is the mastermind of the robbery.

“A Toyota Corolla Sport car red in colour and one BMW Sport car were recovered from the suspects.

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The suspects confessed to have robbed the Toyota Corolla Sport car at gunpoint in Ibadan, Oyo State and bought the BMW Sport car with the proceed of various stolen vehicles.

Odumosu added:”The suspect also confessed that his gang members, who are still at large, specialized in snatching tokunbo (fairly-used) cars along Apapa road Lagos State while coming from the port.”

Okunnu, who told reporters he had been jailed twins for drug trafficking in Thailand and Indonesia, said he was repatriated to Nigeria in 2012 from Thailand where he served three years behind bars.

According to him, he took to crime to become successful after his late father refused to assist him to study abroad.

Okunnu, who was in prison abroad when his parents died, said one Alhaji lured him into the business of stealing vehicles.

“I do not steal it directly, I have guys I tell to do it. When they steal and bring the vehicles, we move them to a willing buyer immediately and I get my share of the money.

“I had two guys, Dapo and Tofunmi,  that used to bring stolen cars for me from different parts of the state. All of a sudden, I didn’t see them anymore.

“So, this year, I met Ola (Segun) at a brothel in Ibadan. I discussed with him that if he knows anybody that has stolen cars for sale, he should let me know.

“He brought one Corolla to me. The following day, I was on my way to pick him up from Iyana Ipaja so we can go to the buyer at Ikoyi but I noticed policemen have blocked the road. Since I knew I was driving a stolen vehicle with no documents, I fled the scene but they pursued me.

“The idea was to sell the car N1.5m, give Ola N500,000 and keep the rest. Between November last year and June, I have made over N2 million profit from the sale of stolen vehicles. I used the money to buy cars that I display at my car port,” he said.