The Nation Newspaper

Tag: stealing

  • Woman charged with ‘stealing’ car

    A Lagos businesswoman,Omolola Shittu, has been charged to court for allegedly stealing a Honda Accord car. But the woman in her defense said her decision  to end  a two-year-old relationship with her lover, Prince Hilary Unachukwu,  was  responsible for charges. The case is before an Igbosere Magistrate Court, Lagos. Charged along with her was another woman,  Rapheal Oge.

    Shittu, an event planner,  was arraigned on August 11, this year,   alleged to have stolen a Honda Accord Saloon Car, otherwise known as “End of Discussion”.

    She, however, petitioned  the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Umaru Manko, an Inspector-General o0f Police (AIG),  to prevail on her  enstranged lover, Prince Unachukwu to stay out of her life to enable her move on.

    Shittu and co-defendant have a  three-count charge preferred against them, but they pleaded not guilty before Chief Magistrate, Mrs.  Adeola Adedayo. Politics solely for material gainIn Suit No. A/38A/2014, the defendants were alleged to have  conspired to commit felony to wit: stealing of the said car valued at N1.6 million and thereby commiting an offence punishable under Section 409 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2011.

    The second count reads: “That you Omolola Shittu on January 19, 2014 at about 7:00am at No. 14 Eric Manuel Crescent, off Bode Thomas, Surulere, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did steal Refrigerator (N72, 500:00) Gas cooker (N85, 200:00) TEC Generator (N66, 500:00) Washing Machine (N120, 800:00) TEC Generator (N91, 200:00)  valued at N503, 200:00, the property of Prince Hilary Unachukwu.”

    The third count reads:  “That you Omolola Shittu, on the same date, time and place in the aforesaid magisterial district threatened the life of one Prince Hilary Unachukwu with scisors and thereby committed an  offence punishable under section 508 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria 2011.

    The defendants pleaded not guilty to the three-count charge and were consequently granted bail  and the matter was  adjourned till September 8.

    They had earlier been arraigned on July 2, on the first two charges.

    In her petition to Manko, dated July 15,  signed by her counsel, Mrs.  Iyabode Shonubi, titled: “Threats to the Life of Omolola Shittu” Unachukwu was alleged  to have sought reconciliation with her, but she refused.

    The petition reads in part: “Due to our client’s refusal to accept Prince Hilary’s return into her life, Prince Unachukwu  framed up several untruths including accusing our client of stealing household items and a Honda car. The charge is before the Chief Magistrate Court, Igbosere and was filed by officers at Zone ll, Nigeria Police Force.”

    Addressing a press conference during the weekend, Shittu, who spoke through her lawyer, Shonubi  claimed that the car  allegedly  stolen was presented to her by Prince Unachukwu as valentine gift on February 14, last year and that the receipt  had her name on it.

    Shonubi said her client was first arraigned on July 2, but the matter was adjourned till July 21. She said on the next adjourned date when Shittu  was supposed to appear in court, Prince Unachukwu allegedly called her and gave her the impression that the matter has been settled amicably, but only for them to get there and realised that another charge had been brought to include threat to Prince Unachukwu ’s life.

    “If she had not gone to court on that day, the implication on that adjourned date would mean that the magistrate would issue a bench warrant for her to be arrested. Despite her being in court as an obedient citizen, the magistrate re-arrested her in court and said the previous bail was terminated. We persuaded the magistrate that our client should continue on the previous bail, but she said no, that we needed to arrange for another bail,” Shonubi said.

    Shittu, who fielded questions from journalists during the press conference,  lamented  that  she was subjected to various maltreatment while in custody at Kirikiri female prison.According to her,  a prison warder shaved her hair the first day she got there, made her to pack faeces, gave her a portion of grass to cut, gave her inmate’s uniform to wear and had  her photograph taken in spite of her not been convicted of any offence.

    “I was arrested at Zone 2 on June 20, this year and spent three nights before they took me to Igbosere Magistrate Court. The police came to my house to arrest me. I was taken to Kirikiri Prison on August 11, after my second arraignment at Igbosere Magistrate Court, on a fresh charge,” she said.

    Omolola, who gave a graphic details of her ordeal in the hands of her estranged lover, said she went through hell during the two years their affairs lasted, saying that he kept threatening her each time she told him she was no more interested in the r4elationship.

    She alleged that  her lover threatened to  use his connection with the police to keep  bringing different charges against her until she is finally sent to jail. Shittu alleged that she did not enjoy any protection from the police on the matter at the Bode Thomas Police Station and Panti Police Station, Ebute Metta, claiming that on one occasion she visited  Panti, she was handed over to ASP Adegoke to handle the case. “The statement I wrote at Panti was taken to Prince Unachukwu. He came to show me the statement at home, asking me if I thought any policeman could arrest him. He said while he was in his office, one of the police officers brought the statement to his office, that he should look at the statement. “

    She urged the Commissioner of Police to use his office to call her former lover to order, pointing out that  her life and that  of her nine year-old-son are at stake.

    “I have not been sleeping in my house for the past few months now because he has been threatening to kill me. My son’s life is in danger. People around me, their lives are in danger. My own life is in danger too. Anytime I am going out, I am always looking left and right as if people are running after me. He has been calling and sending threat messages that except he is not Hilary Unachukwu, that is when I can survive. My life is at stake, my child’s life is at stake.”  When  The Nation contacted Prince Unachukwu  on phone , he declined comments, but said: “ You should ask her  what took her to Zone 2. You should ask her  what took her to Kirikiri. Thank you very much, God bless you.”

     

  • Secret ways of stealing your airtime

    Secret ways of stealing your airtime

    The liberalisation of the telecoms sector more than a decade ago unleashed a phenomenal growth. Mobile phones are increasingly becoming more affordable; subscribers have reached the 130 million mark. However, subscribers are losing money through subterranean moves by service providers, reports LUCAS AJANAKU.

    Mrs. Mercy Adeniran, a widow and mother of three, uses her mobile phone only to receive calls. If there is any need for her to make any voice calls, she will buy air time of N100 and ensure she exhausts it immediately. Gone are the days when she used to buy airtime of N2,000.

    “Each time I load my phone, I discover that my ‘credit’ gets wiped off. I don’t know how it happens but it kept on happening. So frustrated, I called the customer care line of my service provider. After several trials, a female voice that introduced herself as Joy picked my call after 30 minutes of being compelled to listen to music. Joy took my details and promised to fix the error. She never did. So I feel the best thing to do is to stop loading,” she said.

    Another subscriber, who identified himself as Chukwudi Ibe, said he became frustrated with the speed with which he was losing his airtime, despite not making calls, browsing the internet or using the short message service (SMS) platform. So, when mobile number portability (MNP) was launched by the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) last year, he felt relieved as he had an opportunity to dump his ‘thiefing’ service provider.

    He was, however, disappointed that his effort to port out was decidedly frustrated by his operator.

    The experience of Mrs. Adeniran and Chukwudi are but a few of such. Many subscribers just buy airtime which they rarely enjoy. They pick their mobile phones in the hope that they have enough airtime only to discover the airtime has been wiped off.

    Revenue from voice calls forms a significant portion of the balance sheet of mobile network service providers. Data is another growth frontier but it is still not doing well. It is, however, expected to pick up after the spectrums are freed by broadcast on completion of digitalisation are auctioned, to do longer term evolution (LTE) or 4G.  So, operators make more money when people talk and talk on the network.

    From the experiences of customers, they are fleeced in one or two of the following ways.

     Forced alerts

    Some operators are in the habit of imposing alerts on their subscribers. Such alerts are either on football, Bible or fashion.

    The operators take advantage of the high unemployment rate in the country to also force job alerts on their customers. There are alerts on virtually everything, from health tips and weather forecast for which their accounts are debited on a monthly basis.

    The operators usually lure their customers to try it and by the time they do, they get their fingers burnt.

     ‘Flashing’ with conventional numbers

    Operators often fleece their subscribers by  using the conventional 11-digit mobile telephone numbers to ‘flash’ them.

    The idea is that when the unsuspecting subscribers see the ‘flashing’, they inevitably mistake it for a missed call from their loved ones. For subscribers, especially those with kids and other dependants that were temporarily separated by the need to take care of the family, the immediate impulse is usually to return the call because any of the kids could have used the mobile phone of his colleague to flash mummy or daddy. When such calls are returned, one usually gets disappointed that the call was indeed from the operator.

    A victim of the trick, Madam Esther said: “I have three kids in school out of Lagos. When they are broke, they sometimes use their friend’s or teacher’s mobile phone to ‘flash’ me so that I could call them. I have called such numbers a couple of times only to discover that it was from my operator.”

     Billing without call

    It has become the practice with some of the operators to also send bills to their subscribers for calls not made. Such bills are quietly sent intermittently in sums that are negligible and will not excite the curiosity of the subscriber. For instance, it could be as low as N10 but it could be sent about four or five times daily.

    Another version of this kind of billing is made when calls are made but not successful. Though the device will say something such as “the number you have called is not available” but you still get billed at the end of the day.

    Data services bill

    Data services ought to be optional for subscribers. So it is curious when operators send bills intermittently to their subscribers that they have spent X Y Z amount of money accessing the internet.

    Curiously, these bills are sometimes sent to the mobile phones of people who are barely literate and could hardly think of configuring their mobile phones to access the internet.

    “When I bought my Nokia Asha phone recently, my service provider sent internet setting configuration to me no sooner I had I inserted my subscriber identity module (SIM). I am sure that I did not try browsing the internet with the phone because I already have a Blackberry on which I access data but I continued to receive bills. Calls to my operator have failed to stop it,” another subscriber said.

     Ring back caller tunes

    Forced ring back caller tune is another way the operators short-change the customers.  The operators first give the subscribers the impression that the service is going to be free but as soon as the subscriber enters the code, opting out becomes a problem and deduction for such services is the first the service providers go for at the end of the month.

    Though the regulator of the sector, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) mandated the operators to provide short codes for dissatisfied customer to opt out of such services, experience has shown that  it is better not to accept the Greek gift  at all because going out becomes a great problem to the subscribers. “My Daddy was shocked when he discovered that his caller ring back tune is our Lord’s Prayer. He initially asked me to help her opt out but after several attempts, he gave up the attempt. Since he is of the Roman Catholic faith, the paternoster becomes something that is not offensive to him,” Jerome said.

    Particularly, the operators or valued added service (VAS) providers take advantage of the religious nature of the Nigerian society to fleece them. What they do is that the extract prayer points of general overseers of Pentecostal churches that have huge followership. They forcefully impose the prayers of such church leaders on the subscribers as ring back tunes.

     Operator reacts

    A technical person with one of the leading service providers in the country denied any wrong doing by the operators. According to him, some of these things happen to people out of sheer ignorance about the operation of their devices.

    He said: “I am sure if you need the record of your calls and data usage, we will provide you with one stating date by date and minute by minute how you spent your airtime on our network. We do not short-change our subscribers.

    “But all I know is that customers who do not subscribe to data bundle plans are usually advised to block their mobile data because if it is not blocked, it will be running. It is common with smartphones. When you have airtime on your smartphone and your data is not blocked, it connects automatically to the internet and the applications that are running on the internet will be speaking with the phones. This explains why sometimes you check your credit and discover it is no longer there.”

     NATCOMS’ position

    President, National Association of Telecoms Subscribers (NATCOMS), Deolu Ogunbanjo said alerts have also become a thing of great concern to the NCC. He said this has compelled the regulator to restrict the time operators send alerts to their customers.

    “Caller tunes are a global practice. What we are going to do now is to step up education and enlightenment for subscribers not to accept some of the codes the operators send to them

    For unsolicited data connection, Ogunbanjo said: “A lot of people have complained about data too. In the court process we are doing, we are asking the court to put in place proper consumer management process and put an era of sanctions in place too. If a subscriber complains, even when they accept liability, it takes them so long to right the wrongs. What we are pushing for is for a penalty that will have time limit attached. So if the time limit for that penalty is exceeded, it should attract further punishment,” he said.

    Also, calls the Lagos office of Consumer Protection Council (CPC) was not picked.

  • Stealing is corruption, please

    Stealing is corruption, please

    The ICPC chairman, who echoed President Jonathan, should be told to face his core duties OR quit

    The contention by Mr. Ekpo Nta, Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), that stealing should not be misconstrued for corruption is unfortunate and an attempt to subvert the objectives of the anti-graft agency. Mr. Nta told visiting engineers at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja last week that ordinary Nigerians could be forgiven the mistake, but not educated people. Feigning indignation, the ICPC boss said: “Stealing is erroneously reported as corruption. We must go back to what we were taught at school to show that there are educated people in Nigeria. We must address issues as we were taught in school to do.”

    It is saddening that Mr. Nta, a lawyer who was brought ostensibly to give verve to the anti-graft war, failed to appreciate the pernicious nature and nexus between stealing and corruption in the country. He rather gave the impression that they are two distinct and unrelated categories of offences, that is if he believes that stealing is even an offence at all.

    The terse clarification later by his spokesman that stealing is an offence under the law that could be prosecuted by policemen was not just an after-thought, a reaction to the angst expressed by Nigerians to his statement, but was even more damaging to the battle to rid Nigeria of all forms of corruption. His veiled attempt to designate stealing as a minor offence is an indication that the ICPC boss is unfit for the position.

    A visit to the commission’s website tells the story clearly. “Corruption in Nigeria”, it says, “undermines democratic institutions, retards economic development and contributes to government instability. Corruption attacks the foundation of democratic institutions by distorting electoral processes, perverting the rule of law, and creating bureaucratic quagmires whose only reason for existence is the soliciting of bribes.”

    Transparency International describes corruption as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. While it is conceded that corruption is not limited to outright stealing, any attempt to make a clear distinction should be condemned as dubious and self-serving.

    Bribery may not be the only form of corruption, but it is a very important aspect of corrupt practices in Nigeria. The ICPC itself grew out of an appreciation of the incalculable damage done to the development of Nigeria by those who have cornered the common wealth and converted public institutions and their funds to private use.

    Sad enough, the ICPC that was established in 2000 as the first agency solely saddled with the task of halting the trend has failed the nation as corruption continues to fester and the agency is more interested in repeating views expressed by the President than enlisting Nigerians in fighting the scourge.

    The ICPC chairman owes Nigerians an explanation on how it has conducted his duty in the commission. How well has he adhered to the oath he swore to at his inauguration in office in October 2012? How many convictions has the commission secured from the courts in its 14 years of existence and, especially, since Mr. Nta assumed office? What innovations has he brought to ensure that officials caught in the act are made to pay the price?

    It is perhaps more than a mere coincidence that President Goodluck Jonathan had earlier said the same words and noted that neither corruption nor poverty is the bane of Nigeria’s development. Mr. Nta must note that he might have been appointed by President Jonathan, but he should not take his gratitude to the point of undermining the cause of sanitising the Nigerian public space. His role is  clearly defined by the law establishing the commission and it is in no wise similar to the function of the official presidential spokesman.

    The ICPC was conceived as an independent body, thus its funds are charged on the consolidated fund, yet Mr. Nta seems not to appreciate this and would rather leave his core duties to the Nigerian nation and repeat statements made by the President.

    We urge the board of the ICPC to call Mr. Nta to order. Cases pending in various courts for five to eight years have been credited to failure of diligent prosecution, and, in some cases, outright collusion between the prosecution, defence and the Bench. This should stop. Well-heeled public officials found to have dipped their hands in the till must be brought to justice. Sophistry by the ICPC chairman should not stand in the way. All forms of corrupt practices, including stealing, must be fought with vigour. And, if officials saddled with the task are showing signs that they are sympathetic to the ill, they should be asked to step out of the range.

    It does not lie in the mouth of President Jonathan who presides over a terribly corrupt nation, or that of Mr Nta who is supposed to tackle corrupt practices in the same sick country to try to make any distinction between stealing and corruption. It is an unhelpful academic exercise.

  • 4, docked for allegedly stealing N.3m cables

    Four employees of a telecommunication company, MTN, were on Tuesday arraigned in Abeokuta for allegedly stealing  cables  valued at N300,000.

    Okoli Callitus, 30;  John Marshal, 31;  David John, 38,  and Victor Salami, 30, allegedly  committed the offence on March 26 at T.193 Power Hill substation in Abeokuta.

    The Prosecutor, Insp  Sunday Eigbejiale,  told the court that the accused  stole the cable when they were deployed to the substation.

    He  said that the offences contravened sections 517 and 390 (9) of the Criminal Laws of Ogun, 2006.

    The accused persons, however,  pleaded not guilty to the two-count charge of conspiracy and stealing.

    The Magistrate, Mr Martins Akinyemi,  granted  each accused person  bail in the sum of N100,000  with one surety  in like sum.

    Akinyemi adjourned the case till  June 19 for hearing.

  • Two men docked for stealing Seventh Book of Moses

    Two men, David Ogundare, 62 and Ola Busari, 40, were on Wednesday docked at an Ota Magistrates’ Court for allegedly breaking into a church and stealing Seventh Book of Moses and other valuables.

    Ogundare and Busari of no fixed addresses, are facing trial on charges of stealing, conspiracy, breach of peace and malicious damages.

    The Prosecutor, Insp. Mustapha Abdulkareem, told the court that the accused committed the offence on April 17, 2013, at 5.05a.m. at Igbesa area of Ota.

    Abdulkareem said that the accused broke into the Holy Temple Church of God, Jah Compound, Igbesa and stole Seventh Book of Moses and other valuables worth N660, 000 belonging to one Deborah Obadiah.

    He also alleged that the accused unlawfully conducted themselves in a manner that was likely to cause a breach of peace after damaging the Ark of God Covenant at the church.

    According to the prosecutor, the offences committed contravened Sections 241 (1), 390 and 516 of the Criminal Code of the Revised Laws of Ogun, 2006.

    The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

    The Senior Magistrate, Mrs. A.O. Abimbola, granted the accused bail in the sum of N100, 000 each with two sureties in like sum.

    She said that the sureties must have landed property within the court’s jurisdiction and provide the title documents of their property.

    Abimbola also said that the sureties must swear to an affidavit of means and submit a passport photograph to the court.

    The magistrate further directed the sureties to show evidence of tax clearance for the last two years.

    She, then adjourned the case to April 8 for mention.

  • 28-year old arraigned for ‘rape, stealing’

    A 28 year old man, Chibuike Israel has been arraigned before a Lagos Magistrate’s Court in Ejigbo for alleged rape and stealing.

    Police prosecutor Adeleye Oluwafemi alleged that Israel had unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl, Azuike Ngozi in her father’s parlour and stole her N250,000 under false pretences.

    The offence was said to have been committed sometime in August at 4, Ojorubutu Kudeibu street in Ijegun, a Lagos suburb.

    He said the offence was punishable under Section 263, 278(b) and 312(a) Criminal Laws Cap.32 Vol.2 Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2011.

    The defendant pleaded not guilty. Magistrate P.E Nwaka granted him N200,000 bail with two sureties in the like sum. The case was adjourned till January 2, 2014.

  • Two prophetesses charged with stealing

    Two women, who claimed to be prophetesses, were on Thursday arraigned before an Apapa Senior Magistrates’ Court in Lagos, for allegedly defrauding a businesswoman of N600, 000.
    Ifeoma Ogbonna, 43, and Uchechi Nwosu, 40, allegedly collected the money, promising to use their divine powers to make the businesswoman, Mrs Jane Chukwu, rich and make her business proper.
    The duo, who live at the Orile-Iganmu area of Lagos, are facing a three-count charge of stealing, conspiracy and obtaining money under false pretences.
    The Prosecutor, Cpl. Friday Inedu, told the court that the accused approached Chukwu, asking her to bring N500,000 and her gold necklace worth N100, 000 to enable them to pray for her to become rich.
    “The accused, who lured the businesswoman to a reclusive area at Coker Bridge, Orile-Iganmu, Lagos, promised her that they would pray for her and neutralise all external forces working against her progress.
    “The accused said they would use the money to buy some spiritual oils and other ingredients for the prayers, to liberate her from the external forces working against her progress.
    “The businesswoman, who could not see any changes as promised by the prophetesses, reported the matter to the police,’’ he said.
    Inedu said the offences were committed on June 25, at Coker Bridge area of Orile-Iganmu, Lagos.
    According to him, the offences contravene Sections 285, 312 (1), (a) and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Section 312 (1) (a) of the Criminal Law stipulates 15 years imprisonment for obtaining money under false pretenses.
    Both accused persons, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
    The Senior Magistrate, Mr Adeyemi Amos, granted the accused bail in the sum of N200, 000 each, with two sureties in like sum.
    He said the sureties should show evidence of tax payment to the Lagos State Government.
    Amos fixed further hearing in the case for Nov. 13

  • Man bags 6 months imprisonment for stealing motorcycle

    A Zuba Grade 1 Area Court in the FCT on Tuesday sentenced Abubakar Lawal, 21, of Yimi-Abuja to six months in prison for stealing a Qlink motorcycle.

    The court also ordered Umar Ibrahim, 19, of the same address to be remanded in for allegedly committing the same crime.

    The presiding officer, Alhassan Kusherki, passed the six months sentence on Lawal after he pleaded guilty to the two-count charge of Joint Act and Theft.

    He ordered the remand of Ibrahim who pleaded not guilty to the same offence.

    Before passing the judgment, Kusherki said:“I am totally disappointed at the rampant cases of theft of motorcycles within the jurisdiction of this court.

    “I think something has to be done so that we will make sure that this is stopped, and this can only be done if severe punishment is meted out to the perpetrators of such acts.

    “As such, even though you are a first offender, you will be punished accordingly. The accused person is hereby ordered to pay a fine of N20, 000 or go for six months’ imprisonment in default of payment.

    “As for you who pleaded not guilty, the case will be adjourned to the Sept. 25 for further mention and he should be remanded in prison until then,’’ Kusherki said.

    The prosecutor, Momoh Ibrahim, told the court earlier that on Aug. 31, Tsoho Abdullahi of Yimi-Zuba(Abuja) reported  the case at Zuba police station.

    The prosecutor said Abdullahi reported that he parked his Qlink motorcycle in the front of his house when the convict and the accused conspired and stole it.

    He said that in the course of police investigation, the said motor cycle was recovered from them.

    He also said that the offences contravened the provisions of sections 79 and 288 of the Penal Code. (NAN)

  • Man arraigned for ‘stealing’ bus

    A 28-year-old man, Ademola Daramola, has been arraigned before the Abule Egba Magistrate’s Court in Lagos, for allegedly stealing a bus valued at N700, 000. The vehicle belongs to Okolo Robinson.

    Prosecuting Inspector Rachael Williams said Okolo had given the bus to one Victor Abang, the complainant, who recruited Ademola as “conductor” with whom he had worked for six years.

    According to Williams, the complainant parked the Vanagon bus at Oja Oba in Agege, a Lagos suburb, and asked the defendant to wait for him as he went to ease himself.

    “When he returned, he could not find both the “conductor” and the bus. So, he began to search for the conductor.”

    The defendant who pleaded guilty to the one-count charge of stealing brought against him under Section 285 (10) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos 2011, said he sold the gear box of the Vanagon bus for N20, 000.

    He told the court that he called the driver and asked for forgiveness, adding: “It was not the first time I would steal. I stole a kick starter from a Vanagon bus in 2006. I was arrested and charged before an Ikorodu Magistrate’s Court, where I was granted bail. I am begging this court to have mercy on me.”

    Magistrate T. Akanni adjourned the matter till August 19.

  • ‘Why I love stealing Toyota cars’

    A 43-year-old suspected serial car thief, Alhaji Lukman Bello, who was arrested by police operatives in Lagos, has confessed his love for Toyota brands.

    “There are ready buyers for Toyota brands; it won’t take you much time to dispose of them. In fact, buyers demand them,” he said.

    Bello had been on the police “wanted list” since 2007. Luck ran out against him last week, following a tip-off by some of his victims. He was arrested by operatives attached to the Pedro Police Station in Somolu, a Lagos suburb. Police sources said Bello stole mostly from car shops.

    The police, it was learnt, also recovered seven fairly-used (tokunbo) vehicles – five Toyota Camry cars, one Toyota Corolla and a Nissan bus from him.

    But why did he embrace car theft? Bello explained: “I have two wives with four children. I used to repair refrigerators, but what I was getting was not enough to train my children. I have lost count of the number of cars I stole. Also, I was duped and left with nothing; so, I had to survive.”

    “Also, I went into car stealing when I realised how careless car sellers were. I used to go to spots where cars were kept between 8 and 10pm with a master key.  I also used juju (charm). I have been doing it since 2007 and I always moved with a jerry can of fuel; so, I needed not stop at any filling station.”

    A police source said: “Policemen from the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Adeniji-Adele in Lagos have been looking for him. Luck ran out on him when two of his victims reported to the Pedro Police Station and we traced the car to Port Harcourt, where we arrested his major buyer, one Oke John Wordi.

    “We recovered four stolen cars from Wordi, who said he got them from Alhaji Lukman Bello. We arrested Bello and recovered Toyota Camry cars and a Nissan Vanette bus from his house in Ikotun, a Lagos suburb. He told us he sold the Corolla cars in Lagos.”

    The suspect has been charged to the Yaba Magistrate’s Court on a three-count charge of conspiracy, forgery and theft.