Serial burglar buys vehicle from N2m loot

The saying that a criminal can only run but cannot hide forever came to bear on 28-year-old Ganiyu Abass when he was arrested by the Oyo State Police Command and investigation revealed that he was a serial burglar who had once stolen N2 million from the house of one of his victims.

After stealing the N2 million, Abass became a ‘proud’ owner of a Toyota Picnic vehicle which he said he bought from his loot.

The suspect was said to have been arrested on July 15 after he drove suspiciously with suspected members of his gang in the vehicle with registration number LSD 68 EA along a road in Ido Local Government Area.

Crime Reports learnt that his manner of driving aroused the suspicion of vigilance group members keeping watch along the road which prompted them to call policemen attached to Ile Ido Division; and as the hoodlums took to their heels, the police and the security men jointly pursued them and were able to arrest Abass.

Speaking on the suspect’s arrest during a press briefing in Ibadan, the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Leye Oyebade, said that during investigation, it was discovered that Abass had once broken into a house at Wire and Cable area of Apata and had carted away valuable items and N2 million.

He said that the suspect confessed to have used part of the criminal proceed to purchase a Toyota Picnic vehicle which he had been using to facilitate other crimes. “The suspect with others at large had carried out series of burglary at Ologuneru, Apete and other places in Ibadan; and in all of these places, he robbed victims of their valuables including laptops, phones and electronics which he sold to criminal receivers in Ibadan metropolis,” the police commissioner added.

Exhibits recovered from the suspect include a Toyota Picnic vehicle, with registration number LSD 68 EA, a Bajaj motorcycle with registration number MEK 495 WT and an unregistered Bajaj motorcycle.

In an interview with Crime Reports, Abass, who confessed to the crime, said he was a driver before he went into burglary.

“It is true I broke into a house at Nigeria Wire and Cable area, Apata, Ibadan and found N2 million about seven months ago. I went there in the night but no one was around. I only saw scores of kegs of petrol loaded within the compound.

“I also burgled houses at Apete and Ologuneru areas of Ibadan, but what I got was insignificant compared with the N2 million. I worked alone and had been committing the crime for about three years now.

“I was arrested when I went to my village, Akinwaare at Ido Local Government Area and my friends came to pay me a visit. I took them to another village where we went to have drinks. On my way back, I was already drunk and did not see a log used as a barricade across the road by vigilance group men. I rode over the log, raising the men’s suspicion. They took me to Ile-Ido police station from where I was transferred to SARS. It was at SARS that I confessed to my past criminal acts.”