The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Car snatchers

  • Police arrest three car snatchers, recover nine vehicles in Abuja

    Police arrest three car snatchers, recover nine vehicles in Abuja

    Operatives of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Command of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), have arrested three suspects, who specialise in car snatching and robbery in the nation’s capital and its environs.

    Parading the suspects, the FCT Commissioner of Police, (CP), Ben Igweh on Thursday, February 29, said the operatives of the FCT Police Command on February 16, at about 3:00 pm, acting on credible intelligence, arrested three notorious and wanted car snatchers namely;

    David Junior Godwin, male of Port-Harcourt, Rivers State and (gang leader); Paul Taju, male of Gwagwalada, Abuja and Ali Shitu, male of Port-Harcourt, River State.

    The CP said: “The suspects are members of a four-man gang who specialises in inter-state car theft and snatching. They are responsible for a series of car snatching and the disappearance of several Hilux vehicles reportedly stolen in FCT and its environs.

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    “The suspects come into FCT, perpetrate their heinous acts, and take the stolen vehicles to Port-Harcourt to sell.”

    He further said a master key and a total of nine vehicles were recovered from them namely; a red Toyota Rav 4 car (without Reg. No); a brown Toyota Corolla car with Reg No. GWA 630 AG; a Toyota Camry with Reg No. ABJ 307 LK; a Lexus SUV jeep with Reg No. KRD 949 FM and five white Hilux vehicles (all without Reg No.)

    The CP said the suspects confessed to the crime and are currently assisting the police in arresting other gang members at large.

    He said: “Also, on February 23, 2024, at about 2:15 pm acting on credible intelligence, police operatives of the command from the Anti-fraud unit arrested two suspects namely; Abdullahi Yahaya 35, male of Nasarawa State and Gold Ebere 53, male of Jabi, Abuja, at Tin Can Resort Garden in Jabi, Abuja in possession of 36 bundles of fake hundred (100) US dollar ($) notes, totalling about $300,000 fake dollars.”

    The CP said the suspects confessed to being members of an 8-man gang that specialises in the interstate sale of fake dollar notes and had sold several of the fake notes to unsuspecting residents of FCT before they ran out of luck and were apprehended.

    The suspects, he said are currently assisting the Police to apprehend other gang members on the run.

  • Police arrest 6 suspected armed robbers, car snatchers in Kano

    The Police Command in Kano State has arrested six suspected armed robbers and car snatchers who have been terrorising Kano residents.

    The Commissioner of Police, Mr Wakili Muhammad, disclosed this while presenting the suspects newsmen at the command’s Headquarters in Kano on Thursday.

    Muhammad said the suspects whom were all of Sheka quarters, had been dispossessing residents of Sheka, Zoo Road, Tudun Maliki, Tukuntawa and Maidile quarters of their valuables.

    He said an English made pistol was recovered from three of the suspects, Auwalu Adamu, Mohammed Suleman and Abdullahi Iliyasu.

    He said the other suspect, Ahmed Abubakar of Mil Tara in Kano, who specialised in snatching exotic cars on Highways, allegedly conspired with the others whom were now at large.

    “The suspect drove to a hideout located in the above address where they disassembled and sold spare parts to unsuspecting members of the public.

    “One Toyota Hiece Computer bus, one Golf Wagon and a Hummer bus are the vehicles they disassembled,”the commissioner said.

    He said the two other syndicates of car snatchers of Ladanai quarters were nabbed in Kano with a Toyota Hilux.

    He said the command had also arrested one Mohammed Sani of Mubi Local Government Area of Adamawa with 6, 750 locally made knives concealed in sacks.

    Muhammad said the suspect was intercepted at Kwanar Dumawa village in Danbatta Local Government Area of Kano State, and that the suspect was on transit to Katsina State with the exhibit for unspecified mission.

    He also said that as part of efforts to rid the state of fake and counterfeit drugs, the command had intercepted two trailers loaded with fake and expired drugs.

    He said investigations were ongoing after which the suspects would be charged to court.

  • Police parade suspected cultists, robbers, car snatchers

    Abia State Police Command has paraded suspected cultists, robbers and car snatchers.

    Police Commissioner Anthony Ogbizi told reporters that the suspects were arrested in parts of the state.

    He said others were nabbed on the crime scene.

    Leader of Black Axe Confraternity Princewill Okechukwu, a final-year student at Abia State University (ABSU), Uturu, was among the suspects.

    He said the suspects would be arraigned.

    A suspected female cultist, who is also a final-year student from ABSU, Chika Ogwalachi, confessed that she was arrested in the vicinity of an initiation in a student lodge, near the campus.

    Ogwalachi, 22, who was paraded with two suspected male cultists, said her boyfriend asked her to wait for him at the venue.

    She said while waiting for him, one of the boys gave her a parcel, which her boyfriend asked her to collect and keep for him.

    Ogwalachi claimed she didn’t know the parcel contained Indian hemp.

    She denied knowing that her boyfriend was a cultist.

    “We just met recently. While I was waiting for him, the police arrived and asked me what I was doing there. I told them I was waiting for my boyfriend. They seized my bag, searched it and found the parcel. They unwrapped it and discovered it was Indian hemp. That was how I was arrested,” Ogwalachi said.

    A 23-year-old final-year student, Salvation Chialu, was also paraded.

    He confessed that he was arrested during initiation.  Chialu said other cultists escaped.

    The suspect, an indigene of Awkuzu in Anambra State, said he was lured into cultism by supposed friends.

    He said: “I bought items for them to keep them at bay, but three days after my exams, as I was packing my clothes, they came into my room and ordered me to follow them.

    “I followed them because of their fierce look. Before then, I hesitated and they attacked me with a machete.”

    Okechukwu told reporters that he was arrested in the exam hall.  He admitted that he was the leader of the cult for only two weeks, alleging that those opposed to his leadership masterminded his arrest.

    Okechukwu said he was aware that the items recovered from his room were weapons, used for cult activities.

    The suspect, from Isuikwuato Local Government of Abia State, confessed that seven live cartridges, dagger, machete,  Black Axe Confraternity bag and red uniform were recovered from him.

    Also paraded was Uchenna Okorocha.

    He said he was arrested when the police searched his home in Aba, following a report by his master’s brother.

    The suspect confessed that he spent his master’s money on MMM Pyramid Scheme and other gambling.

    He said when he could not give proper account of how he spent the money; his master’s brother invited the police to arrest him.

     

     

  • Suspected kidnappers, car snatchers paraded in Abuja

    Suspected kidnappers, car snatchers paraded in Abuja

    The police in Abuja yesterday paraded Uche Obiora, Michael Ishaku, Raphel Daudu, and Mohammed Sanusi Haruna for allegedly kidnapping Veronica Otogo and Bisola Mohammed at Banex area on January 27.
    The ladies were dispossessed of their car.
    One AK 49 riffle, 59 live ammunitions and an operational vehicle of the gang was recovered from the suspects.
    Addressing reporters on their operations, force spokesman Jimoh Moshood said the ladies were kidnapped on their way to a birthday party.
    “Their operational vehicle – a Mazda (SNK 891 TM) was used to block the victim’s car around Banex area. They were held for nine days.
    “The suspects confessed to the crime and admitted to have collected N1 million ransom before releasing victims.
    “They would be charged to court after investigations,” Moshood said.
    He added that investigation is being intensified to arrest other members of the syndicate.
    Other suspects paraded for car snatching, unlawful possession of firearms and other criminal activities are Uche Maxcillenous, John Jumare, Ibrahim Mohammed, Surajo Yakubu and Danlami Musa.

  • Police nabs notorious car snatchers in Edo 

    Police nabs notorious car snatchers in Edo 

    Five persons suspected to be notorious car snatchers within Benin City and environs have been arrested by men of the Edo State Police Command.

    The suspects, Alao Samson, Christopher Obanugo, Okwuchukwu Ntagu, Dickson Ogiemwonyi and a spray painter, Godwin Atanu were arrested on March 8, after they snatched five cars from different individuals.

    Police said a Lexus RX 300 was sold by the gang for N120, 000 and a new Lexus jeep for N500, 000.

    Two of the recently stolen cars, a Ford Focus and Toyota Matrix were sprayed to another colour.

    Samson, w‎ho hails from Osun State said he usually disguised as a mechanic and whenever he was called to fix a vehicle, he would made away with the cars after the owner submitted their car keys.

    Ogiemwonyi, a graduate of Political Science from the University of Benin, who bought the Lexus Jeep said he suspected that it was a stolen car which made him to take it to a spray painter to change the colour.

    Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Osifo Abiodun, who paraded the suspects, described the arrest as a major breakthrough owing to the incessant reports of car snatching in the state capital.

    “These are suspects who specialise in car snatching within Benin and neighbouring communities. On February 18, 2016, a Nissan car was snatched by three armed men at gunpoint from the owner. And since, we have been on the trail of these armed robbers. It paid off three days ago on a tip off that a vehicle was being vandalised at a hideout, at a specific location.

    “In his (Atanu’s) workshop one of the stolen vehicles was recovered. His personal vehicle was also recovered. We are investigating it to know how he came about even his personal vehicle.‎”

    On the claim of innocence by the spray painter and his wife, Abiodun said, “Suspects will always give flimsy excuses. They will always have one or two stories to tell. He has been a spray painter over the years and highly experienced. But before you spray a vehicle, you ask genuine questions about the particulars of the vehicles. The vehicles themselves were not dented. So, how come he is spraying them and changing their colours?”

  • DSS arrests six suspected car snatching syndicate in Anambra

    The Anambra State command of the Department of State Services (DSS) has apprehended six suspected car syndicate.

    The suspects are Nworah Ibe, Levi kelechi Eze, Joseph Igboji, James Ukoh, Titus Okwudili Duruaku and Victor Ndubuisi.

    State Director of DSS, Mr. Alex Okeiyi, while parading the suspects Wednesday at DSS Office, said the suspects would be prosecuted.

    Ukoh and Igboji (aka-onye-owa) were both from Ebonyi state and were arrested at Nkpor, Idemili North local government area of the state with the assistance of Action Eagle Security Solution limited.

    For Ibe who is from Enugu State and Eze from Imo, they were traced to Lokoja in Koji State by the DSS and in the process of trying to snatch a Honda Accord car (end of discussion) from an unsuspecting victim at Ajaokuta, according to Okeiyi.

    The other two persons, Victor Ndubuisi and Titus Okwudili Duruaku were the buyers of the stolen Toyota highlander jeep with registration number Abuja BW851RSH and Honda Accord car with registration number Anambra FGG 918 AG.

    Also, the two vehicles were recovered by the DSS state command in the cause of their investigation, while Okeiyi admitted that car snatching had been on the increase in Anambra state in the past few weeks.

    The suspects while being asked questions Wednesday by reporters, confessed to have been involved in the car snatching and disposing of snatched vehicles.

    One of them Nworah who confessed to have been in the business since 2009, had also been in prison before now as a result.

    But Ukoh claimed that he was linked to the business by Kelechi, who he said he harboured in his house without knowing that he was a criminal.

    For Kelechi, who claimed to have sold only two cars since he joined the business, told reporters that he was talked into the business by Ukoh and Igboji.