A
self-acclaimed Building Engineer has told operatives of the Special
Anti-Robbery Squad, Lagos State Police Command, that he is not an armed
robber but a receiver of stolen vehicles.
The suspect, Kayode Haruna, who claimed
to be a graduate of Yaba College of Technology, was alleged to have
bought over 50 stolen vehicles from armed robbers at low prices after
which he would sell them to members of the public.
The spokesperson for the state police command, Ngozi Braide, told PUNCH Metro that the suspect advised the robbers to snatch unregistered vehicles coming into the country at the border.
She said because the vehicles were not
registered, they were difficult to trace and the suspect would sell them
to members of the public.
She said: “A gang of robbers were arrested last year and they confessed that their modus operandi
was to snatch vehicles from people bringing in vehicles from Cotonou,
Benin Republic. They would then sell the stolen vehicles to Haruna.
“Based on their confession, police began
to search for Haruna. After months of investigation, he was arrested
and he will be charged to court for receiving stolen goods.”
The 40-year-old suspect, however, told PUNCH Metro that he had sold only 30 vehicles as against the over 50 the police alleged.
The native of Kwara State said when he
initially started dealing with the robbers, he did not know that the
vehicles were stolen.
He added that when he later knew that
the vehicles were stolen, he continued the business relationship because
“the devil tempted” him to continue.
He said, “I was working at a
construction site one day when one of my boys, Sola, gave me the
telephone number of Stanley, whom he said was a customs officer that
sold vehicles at very cheap prices. I met with Stanley, Ejike and Dada
and they gave me very good prices. So, we started doing business.
“Most times, they called me with
different telephone numbers and we met at different hotels in Egbeda,
Mile 12 areas, Lagos, or the Mowe area of Ogun State.
I always paid cash and they handed over
the vehicles to me. They told me the vehicles were impounded vehicles,
so I did not suspect anything initially.
“On one occasion, however, they sold to
me a blood-stained vehicle. This was when I started to suspect that they
were armed robbers. I would have stopped dealing with them but the
devil pushed me to continue to do business with them.”
When asked how much he usually bought
and sold the vehicles, the father of four said, “I have bought and sold
only 30 vehicles. I usually sell Toyota Camry, Toyota Corolla and Toyota
Highlander because the demand for the vehicles is high.
“The market price for Toyota Highlander
is about N2.2 million but I buy it at N1million. I buy Toyota Camry 2010 model for
N1.5 million and I sell it for N2.4 million. The Toyota Camry I am currently driving, I
bought it at N350,000.”
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