Monday, August 26, 2019

RRS nab Political Science graduate for stealing ‘brain boxes’


Juliana Francis
A graduate of Political Science, Sodiq Musa, has been arrested by Operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Ikeja, Lagos State Police Command, for allegedly vandalising vehicles and stealing their brain boxes.


The 28-year-old Musa, was arrested with Saidu Atiku, 34, at 27, Awolowo road, Ikeja, in possession of three Toyota vehicle brain boxes. Police said that a third member of the gang, Ridwan Adamu, escaped with a fourth brain box.

Musa,  a graduate of Political Science, said that he came to Lagos in 2017 in search of greener pasture. He explained that he had worked as a barbeque man in different hotels and parties, before he met Ridwan. He revealed that it was Ridwan, who introduced him to stealing of vehicle brain boxes.

Musa said: “We use ‘magic stone,’ that is, vehicle spark plug to break vehicle windows without attracting attention. It takes two minutes to loosen a Toyota Hiace bus brain box, and it takes four minutes to loosen a Toyota Hilux box. The spark plug reduces the noise and causes quick break of any vehicle window. We tie the plug in a handkerchief in a situation where we have multiple vehicles to work on.”

Musa said that his gang member, Atiku, was a security guard, working for a company located on that street where they were arrested. Atiku, earlier in the day, had called Ridwan, their leader, to come and feast on vehicles
parked outside the company’s premises. These were vehicles that Atiku was supposed to be guarding.

On getting the hint, Ridwan and Musa set to action and got to the venue around 1:00 a.m. They broke into a Toyota Hiace and two Toyota Hilux vehicles, belonging to the company that employed Atiku as night guard . They were still on the operation, when a security guard nearby saw them and raised the alarm. This led to their arrest. Musa was caught with three boxes, while Ridwan fled with one.

Musa was thereafter taken to RRS Headquarters, where he disclosed: “We specialised in stealing Toyota brain boxes because they fetch good money in the market. The demand for them is  higher than any other brand. For example, we sell a Toyota Hiace bus for N40,000, while that of Toyota Hilux goes for N20,000 respectively.
Ridwan connects with the buyers of the brain boxes, who he claimed are from the popular spare part market in Lagos. We always meet the buyers outside the market where we exchange our loots for cash. They usually pay in cash and will never wait more than two minutes as we already have an understanding on the prices. Ridwan gives me 40 percent of whatever we make from the sale of our loots. He has never disclosed where we were to carry out our next operation, because he feels he is my boss. 
“Our target areas are usually night clubs where people come with different types of vehicles. We strike around 1:00 a.m. - 2:00 a.m. when most of the clubbers would have started enjoying themselves.”

The suspect also confessed to have stolen two boxes at a popular night club in Lekki, another at Ogunlana Drive and Allen Avenue, Ikeja. All these areas house popular night clubs and joints in Lagos.

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