We snatch cars because its fun, says 17-year-old gang leader

*Army recovers seven cars from gang

Taire is just 17-year-old. He finished school some few years ago. His parents had planned for him to further his education but Taire way of life wouldn't allow him to further is education.

He's into the dangerous trade of car snatching! Taire is the youngest among his gang members and surprisingly, he is the leader of the gang!

Due to his notorious criminal acts, his father who worked with American oil giant, Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) was said to have disowned him. Yet he was not prepared to stop until the long arms of the law caught up with him recently.
His parents were planning to send him to Canada for study when he and other members of his gang were apprehended fortnight ago.
He was initiated into a gang of criminals whose stock in trade was to attack unsuspecting motorists at night and dispossessed them of their cars.

The 3 Battalion of the Nigerian Army, Effurun, near Warri, Delta State, was said to have burst the gang.

The gang members were six, but one of them is a 32-year-old man. This was said to be the person who used to egg the youngsters on to go and snatch cars.

 The suspects who are of the ages of 17, 18, 17, 21, 27 and 32 were picked up following an intelligent gathering process of the army.

One of their victims, who simply gave his name as Timi, explained that after the gang attacked and robbed him of his car at the NPA bypass flyover bridge, leading to the Warri refinery sometime ago, they ordered him to jump from the bridge top.

When he refused, they beat him black and blue, leaving him in a pool of his blood.
Another of their victim said the gang ordered him to bend his back while they ate 'suya' meat which they took from one of their victims’ cars.

According to Taire, he and his gang usually had fun in operations.

He said that they usually use carved wood, with a pointed pipe as gun to threaten unsuspecting victims. "We’ve never carried or used guns in our operations,” he declared.  "Although we wanted to buy a gun but we couldn't get it because one of our members whom we gave money tricked us and spent the money."
He revealed that the two cars he participated in snatching were sold to buyers in Benin, between N100, 000 and N200, 000 only.
He further explained that the buyers used to haggle for extremely low prices for the cars because they knew his gang could not return the stolen cars to the owners.

 Aghogho Omoko, a member of the gang, described as a trickster, was said to be in the habit of always duping his gang members with promises of getting guns for the group.

James Oghenevwede specialised in the carving of the wooden guns which the gang allegedly used to rob. He and Taire are also the gang drivers.

Precious America and other suspects who had confessed their crimes and also being a member, said they were initiated into the illicit business due to peer group influence.
Onome Aboribo, who is said to be an apprentice mechanic, is the one Aghogho often liaises with to supply the gang guns after he might have collected money for the purpose.

But Onome said he had never supplied any gun, adding that they were only tricking the other gang members to 'corner' some money for himself and Aghogho.
They are all young in ages and cunning as foxes. They work together as syndicates and used their loot on frivolities.
Their chain of network spanned from Warri to Benin, then Kaduna, the final destinations of the stolen cars.
They have a middle-man who they transferred the cars to for onward movement to one Alahji in Kaduna who would then refurbished the cars and resell them.

Some of the cars seats were changed in Benin before the middleman would finally moved them to Kaduna.

The Commanding Officer of the battalion, Lieutenant- Colonel Ifeanyi Out, said that the 'boys' were dangerous and hardened in the kind of crime they allegedly committed.
 Otu said that all the suspects were arrested in Warri and Benin where they usually operated.

He added that the hoodlums usually snatched cars in Warri after which the cars were taken to one Lucky Jacob who buys them at a cheaper rate in Benin.

Out said that a victim had reported the snatching of his Honda Accord car, following which soldiers of the battalion on checkpoint intercepted the vehicle while the occupants were driving it to Benin.

Otu said that two of the suspects were taking the car to a receiver in Benin who they usually sell vehicles to from where the receiver was to make onward delivery to one Alahji who is base in Kaduna.

The commander explained that the suspects were allegedly into kidnapping of unsuspecting victims.

Some of the stolen cars recovered were two Honda Accord, one Nissan Pathfinder Jeep, two Toyota Camry, one Toyota Corolla, one Toyota Matrix, one Toyota High Lander as well as one CRV Jeep.

Also recovered were nine MTN SIM card, two GLO SIM card as well as two ETISALET SIM cards. One cartridge was also recovered from one of the suspects.