Four members of a car-snatching syndicate, including two females, have been arrested by the Zone 2 Police Command, in charge of Lagos and Ogun states.
The suspects, Adams Michael, 44; Ojokola Mathew, 40; Osikhena Mercy, (f) 27 and Ejeh Esther, (f) 29, were apprehended following a petition to the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 2, AIG Ali Mohammed Ari, by one Akolawole Omowunmi.
Zonal Police Public Relations Officer (ZPPRO) SP Hauwa Idris-Adamu, who disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday, said the suspects were arrested at their hideouts in Edo and Delta States and two vehicles recovered.
The spokesperson said the leader of the gang, Adams’ style is to call up an Uber driver under the pretence that he is going to need his service for three days but at the end, he runs away with the vehicle having secured the confidence of the driver.
According to the petition dated May 8, 2023, the complainant, who uses his silver Toyota Camry saloon car, 2009 model, with registration number: BDG 80 HU for Uber services, said he received a call from the principal suspect, Adams, who booked a ride from Lekki phase 1 at Presken hotel.
On arrival at the venue, the Uber driver stated that Adams told him to cancel the ride and take an offline trip, under the guise of engaging his services for three days, which the Uber driver gladly obliged to, without any iota of suspicion.
However, according to the PPRO in a statement, at about 8:00pm same day, the principal suspect, Adams, called the Uber driver to take him and his girlfriend to a supermarket in Lekki.
To accomplish his ulterior motive, Adams, on arrival at the said supermarket, intentionally left his phone in the car and requested the driver to come along with him and the girlfriend into the mall to shop.
While at the mall, the suspect exclaimed that he left his phone in the car, and requested for the car key from the driver, who fell for the trick.
“When the petitioner waited a while and did not see the suspect return to the mall, he went out of the mall and realized that his car had been removed from where it was parked, only for him to sight the car driven on high speed on the other side of the road”, the statement revealed.
“Detectives from the Zonal X-Squad Section swung into action and, with his phone number, tracked Adams’ location to somewhere around Edo and Delta states”, following which, Idris-Adamu said, “On 24/05/2023, detectives from the Zonal X-Squad moved to Edo/Delta states, where the principal suspect (Adams) and three others were arrested,”
Two vehicles, the stolen Toyota Camry car and a Lexus 300 SUV, believed to have equally been stolen, were recovered from the suspects.
The PPRO further stated that investigation was ongoing, adding that on its completion, the of suspects would be charged to court.
