‘How I bought my colleague’s stolen car’

Mr. Oludayo Adekunle, has revealed how he bought a stolen car. Speaking after weeks of his arrest, Adekunle said he was shocked to discover that the stolen car belonged to one of the landlords in his street at Sagamu, Ogun State.

But no matter how many times he denied not being the person that stole the car, members of the Landlord Association refused to believe him. Adekunle, whose father is a retired Army officer, was found in possession of the stolen Toyota Carina car keys and original documents.
Adekunle denied ever stealing the car, marked LNB 961 BU. He insisted one Akeem, who is now at large, sold the vehicle to him. He said he never knew the vehicle belonged to his co-landlord, Mr. Opeoluwa Saka.
New Telegraph gathered that unknown people broke into the Sagamu home of Saka in January and stole the car. They also stole N130, 000. The stolen car was later intercepted at Akoko, Ondo State where he allegedly wanted to sell it.
The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said Adekunle attempted to deceive the prospective buyer of the car. Adejobi said, “The person who wanted to buy the car from him actually asked him, ‘are you the rightful owner?’
He said he was the owner. He presented the original documents that were found in the vehicle to that person. “But there was a phone number written behind the vehicle license. This prompted the buyer to call the number.
When he called the number, a man picked and confirmed that he was the owner of the vehicle. This owner is Saka. The buyer said, ‘your vehicle is in Ondo State now.’ He told Saka that somebody wanted to sell it. He asked Saka if he gave his permission to such a person to sell his car? Saka said no.
“Saka now collected the phone number of Adekunle from the buyer. When Saka dialled the number, he discovered that it was his co-landlord within the street.
This prompted Saka to report to the chairman of the Association and they summoned a meeting.
“They kept it within themselves, knowing that Adekunle was the one that stole the car. When he was now told of what happened, he used a cover-up that he bought it from one Akeem; up till this time, he has not produced Akeem.” Adekunle, 42, a father of five, explained: “My dad is a retired soldier, but he is aged.
He is over 70. I have a wife and five children. I built my house in Sagamu. I’m a bricklayer and also do some contract works. One day, I was at work when I saw Akeem, whom I’ve known for long.
I worked at one hotel in Sagamu Toll-Gate. He came to inform me that he wanted to build a three-bedroom flat and enquired how many blocks to buy.
I told him to buy 4,500 blocks and 50 bags of cement. I also asked him to buy soft and sharp sand. Since then, I didn’t see him.