A 23-year-old suspect, Isaiah Timileyin, who was among the four arrested for being in possession of a car suspected to have been snatched, has told police operatives how he linked up with other gang members through a convict still serving his term in a prison.
Timileyin made the confessional statement in an interview recently after he and three others were paraded by the police command.
Other suspects were identified as Olasunkanmi Waliu, 26; Fasakin Gbenga, 29; and Waheed Morufu, 37.
Timileyin revealed how he first met the convict, popularly called Burundi, in Ile-Ife Correctional Centre, before he was transferred to Ilesa prison. He said that Burundi, also respected by other inmates and convicts, and referred to as ‘General,’ always spoke to him on phone before the plan of selling the stolen car he was caught with.
The command’s Police Public Relations Officer, SP Adewale Osifeso, who addressed journalists at the press briefing, said that Timileyin was arrested by the Monitoring Unit, led by its commander, CSP Olusola Aremu, after it received information that a syndicate that specialised in snatching vehicles from their owners and stealing cars from where parked, was sighted at Egbeda area of Ibadan-Ife road, Ibadan, with a Toyota Camry car suspected to have been snatched at gun point or stolen from its owner.
Nigerian Tribune learnt that Timileyin was eventually arrested while driving the car along Ibadan-Ife expressway on his way to Osun State to take the car to the intending buyer.
During interrogation on the ownership of the vehicle, he was said to have been unable to give satisfactory response, which led to his arrest.
Further investigation led him into confessing his intention to sell the stolen car, while he mentioned the syndicate members he was working with.
In an interview with the Nigerian Tribune, Timileyin gave a narration of his involvement thus: “I am Timileyin Isaiah. I’m from Lagos State. I’m a car dealer and site engineer. I studied Civil Engineering in Ekiti State University. I served in Kogi State.
“I started the car dealership while still in school. I used the period of strike and holidays to learn it from a man called Mr Tunde.”
Why I was arrested
“I was driving a Toyota Camry car along Ife-Ibadan road. The car was given to me by Waliu and Gbenga. They were introduced to me by a man popularly known as Burundi. He is currently in Ilesa Prison. He said that the two men he linked me with had a car to sell. He sent me their phone numbers.
“I knew Burundi in Ife Prison before he was transferred to Ilesa. I was going with my boss, a dealer, to prison to present gifts to inmates. Burundi was the ‘General’ and could see visitors. He found me friendly and asked for my phone number. I also used to send money and other things to him, and sometimes visited him. He is old enough to be my father.
“I had told him that I was a car dealer. One day, he called me from the prison and told me of the car Waliu had to sell. He directed them to me in Ile Ife in Osun State where I was at that time.
“I knew the vehicle was stolen when it was brought to me. It was Burundi who introduced me to this ‘business.’ He would make night calls to me to discuss such deals. He promised to get cars for me whenever I needed them, and I decided to work with him. I knew such cars would be stolen if someone in prison was arranging it.
“As I was driving along the expressway heading to Osogbo in Osun State, I wanted to take it to Morufu whose link I also got from Burundi, I saw policemen and they asked me questions on it. They asked me for the particulars and also requested for a call to the owner to authenticate my claim that it belonged to my brother. I dialled a non-existing number which was not going through. As we got into an argument, the Monitoring Unit was called and I confessed to them that it was stolen.”
Nigerian Tribune learnt that at a time, Timileyin was remanded in prison in Ekiti State while awaiting trial over the case. He confirmed this and explained: “Before the deal I had with Burundi, I had a problem with a customer I collected money from in Ekiti State for the purchase of a Toyota Sienna. She didn’t like it when I took it to her. She wanted her money back so I took the vehicle for repairs and posted it on WhatsApp status for sale. When she saw how neat it had become, she wanted me to bring it back. On my way, I had an accident and the vehicle became a total write-off. She reported me to civil defence and I was charged to a federal high court. I was granted bail but the judge was transferred same day. I was remanded in Ekiti prison until another judge came and the case was stricken out.”
He said he knew Waliu in Ekiti prison but they were not relating. “I was surprised to see him on the day he brought the Camry to me. I didn’t know he had a link with Burundi too,” Timileyin said.
Why I got involved in crime
“I just decided to give it a try because when I was released from prison, I didn’t have money.”
Waliu Olasunkanmi’s story
“I’m 25 years old. I’m from Ibadan but live in Lagos. I’m an okada rider. We did not snatch the car from the owner at gun point. We stole it from where it was parked. I am an ex-convict. I was once arraigned over a clash among commercial motorcycle riders and convicted with four months sentence. I was in Ilesa prison where I met Burundi who is a convict still serving his prison sentence. Shortly before my release, I was transferred to Ekiti Prison where I first knew Timileyin.
“When I was in Ilesa, Burundi and I used to chat. After my release, he used to call me. One day, I passed by an unregistered Toyota Camry car parked on Egbeda road and called Gbenga. We went back to the spot and saw that it was still there. We used a master key which we call ‘s’ori’ to open it. I couldn’t drive so Gbenga picked it. We posted a ‘Buy Me’ sticker on it, trying to get a buyer for it.
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“I also made Burundi to know that I had the car with me. He didn’t care how I got it. He asked if I had someone to sell it to and I said no. That was when he sent Timileyin’s number to me. We took the car to Timileyin in Ife and he promised to get a buyer.
“Gbenga and I waited for weeks but did not get positive news from Timileyin. One day, he called me that he had been arrested by the police. We thought he was trying to take the car from us stylishly, so I called Burundi and informed him. I didn’t know he was truly arrested.
Gbenga Fasakin
“I’m a driver and I live in Ibadan. Waliu and I are friends. One day, he told me that he sighted a car parked on Egbeda road and had noticed it that it was still there after two days. We decided to pick it and make money from it.
“We got there in the evening and started studying the environment if someone would come to it, but there was no one. Waliu used his motorcycle as a standby and gave me the master key. I moved it from the spot and we wrote ‘Buy Me’ on it. When the price being placed on it by intending buyers was too small, I dropped it.
“Waliu called me one day that Burundi sent a number to us, asking us to take the car to Timileyin who said he would pay N1.7 million for it. We took the car to him in Ife and was expecting payment when he called that he had been arrested. I was later picked up in my house.”
Moruf Ajeigbe
I was born on April 4, 1985. I’m 37 now, though I look so old. I’m from IlaOdo in Osun State. I was working with dealers to bring in cars from neighbouring countries to Nigeria.
“Timileyin and I are in the same car dealership business. He called me that he had a Toyota Camry car to sell. I said that I would give him a deposit of N150,000 and pay the balance after selling it. I was arrested in Ibadan the day I came for the vehicle when he didn’t bring it, unknown to me that he had been arrested.”
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