Suspect: Devil possessed me to steal
car
The Lagos State Police Command has
arrested Pastor Joseph Akah of the Ministry of Holy Ghost Church, located at
Ajah area of Lagos State and four others for armed robbery.
Akah and others were picked up by
operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Ikeja, Lagos State Command,
for participating in the stealing of a Pathfinder SUV at the Ogba area of the
metropolis.
Those presently in police custody
are; Charles Amarekpa 49, Wasiu Hassan 36, Obialor Eze, 37, Emmanuel Oluwafemi,
39 and Pastor Joseph Akah.
According to the police, the
suspects were arrested at Ogba. The gang was alleged to be looking for a buyer
when police swooped on them.
One of the suspects, Eze, said that
it must have been devil that possessed him, compelling him to steal and moved
the car from where it was parked.
According to him, the evil spirit
took over him, when he realized that the car’s key, was left in the ignition.
He invited his friend, Uche, shared his brainwave and they both drove off the
car.
Eze said: “Immediately Uche and I stole
the vehicle, we moved it straight to my house at Ijoko area of Ogun State. Till
date, I don’t know and can’t explain the sort of devil that possessed and made
us to steal that jeep. Something just came over me.”
A police source said: “The gang mode
of operation is to steal parked vehicles. An argument ensued among the gang
members, which annoyed one them called Oluwafemi. Oluwafemi was trying to get a
buyer for the car. He later called the owner of the jeep through a phone number
on the vehicle particulars. Oluwafemi had already taken the suspects, with the
vehicle to three different markets; Owode Onirin, Ladipo and Fagba. They wanted
to sell the jeep for N500, 000.
“When the gang discovered that
policemen were on their trail, they moved the vehicle to Agege and later Sango,
in Ogun State. When they were going to Sango, they snatched a Toyota Corolla
car and transferred all items inside the jeep into the Corolla car, drove the
jeep to Kayode Street, Sango. They would later sell the Corolla car. When we
couldn’t arrest them that fateful day, we started tracking them through one of
the gang members’ phone. We pretended we wanted to buy a jeep. They directed us
to come down to tollgate area of Sango. We later arrested them at Ogba area of
Lagos, where they had hidden the jeep.”
Pastor Akah, who is also a
commercial bus driver, however, denied being a robber. He described himself as
a victim of circumstance.
He added: “God is my witness; I
don’t know anything about robbery. Since I was born, I’ve never been involved
in robbery I went to a mechanic workshop, to service my commercial bus, when
two men came and ordered me to enter their vehicle. I tried to resist; but I
changed my mind and followed them after they introduced themselves as
policemen. The policemen later said I should produce my bus conductor Uche, who
worked last with me seven years ago. I don’t even know the whereabouts of
Uche.”
One of the suspects, Amarekpa,
explained that, Uche, who is still at large, came to him sometimes in December
and informed him that someone parked a Pathfinder SUV along the roadside.
Amarekpa said: “Uche told me that he
had moved the car and parked it at a friend’s house. I know the landlord of the
house where the car was parked. I alerted the landlord, who reported the matter
to the police. Unfortunately, before the landlord returned, Uche and his friend
had moved the vehicle to another location. Uche called me; he threatened to
rope me into robbery if he was arrested. I was later arrested by the police and
accused of being part of the gang. I don’t know anything about armed robbery.”
Another suspect, Oluwafemi said: I
was living with Wasiu at Ogba, when Obialor Eze approached me. He told me that
he has a car for sale. He begged me to get a buyer for him. The following day,
Obialor and his friends gave me the photocopy of the car’s document. Obialor
told me that the vehicle belonged to his aunt. It was after I collected the
documents, I noticed the name on them was a male. I tried to verify the
authenticity of the vehicle before bringing a buyer. This led to argument among
us, later leading to our arrest.”
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