A suspected car vandal who had in the past vandalised choice Toyota cars in parts of Lagos State has claimed that he got directives on the specification of which vehicle to vandalise from an auto spare parts dealer in Ladipo Auto Spare Parts Market, Mushin.
The suspect, Oluwasegun Oladimeji, was a few days ago arrested by the operatives of the Rapid Response Squad of the Lagos State Police Command.
The suspect, a former barber, was arrested by the RRS operatives barely six weeks after he was released from prison.
The police claimed that Oladimeji had vandalised some cars around Lekki area of the state when he was arrested and taken to the Alausa office of the RRS.
It was also reported that the police recovered parts of different Toyota brands, as well as the mobile phones of the guards in charge of the place where he carried out the act.
The suspect told the police that his arrest was just after he returned from the prison, where he served a three-month sentence for committing a similar offence.
The suspect said: “Oga Dona (auto parts dealer) has my number. He would call to tell me the type of vehicle parts that were on high demand in the market. He would tell me to get them for him.
“I have been working for him now for eight years. I have stolen different vehicle body parts, particularly, Toyota products.
“I’ve removed Toyota Corolla brain box, headlight, rear light, buttons, among others. Since I came back from prison in November 2016, I have stolen brain-boxes of 47 cars. My targets were Toyota vehicles.”
The suspect also stated that: “Whenever I was going on operation, he (Oga Dona) was the one who gave me transport fare. Most times, he informed me of the specifications of car he wanted me to operate on.”
“I had surveyed the company earlier in the day. And I knew those cars belonged to that company. At about 4:00 a.m, I had removed all I had to remove and was about going when the security sighted me and raised the alarm.
“Unfortunately for me, RRS officers were patrolling around that time. They sighted me, pursued me with their vehicle and arrested me. I gained entry into the vehicles by breaking one of the small side glasses at the back seat.
He gave the names of those usually sent by “Oga Dona” to collect the stolen parts as Chidozie and Ananyochukwu.
In his confessional statement, Ananyochuwku said, “Our boss, Oga Dona, usually gave me N30,000 to N35, 000 to give Segun and collect auto parts from him. I usually met Segun at Toyota bus stop or any other place to collect the stolen car parts from him.
“At times, he would give me N1, 000 or N500 after the deal. Occasionally, he would say ‘nothing dey on top’. Segun had been supplying stolen spare parts to Oga Dona for up to eight years. We are just hustlers.”
The image-maker in charge of the state police command, Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the arrest of the two suspects to Metro and added that they had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Panti, for further investigations.
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