Suspect Confesses I Sold Stolen Cars To House of Reps Member, Lecturer

32yrs old Ifeanyi Ekene specializes in buying stolen cars at
cheap prices and sell them for high profit in Lagos and other
areas. He ran out of luck recently as one of his suppliers was
arrested by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad in
Lagos State. They even sold some of the stolen vehicles to a
member of the House of Reps and a university lecturers.
Below are Ekene's confession on their mode of operation...
"I am from Anambra State, but I sell auto spare parts in
Alagbado area of Lagos. I used to buy used vehicles from
Dubai but a friend of mine, Ifeanyi, who is based in Akure,
introduced me to some people who sell cars at cheaper prices.
"I asked if they were armed robbers and they said no, that
they only use master keys to open cars and steal them. The
first car they gave me was a Toyota Corolla 2008 model
which they sold to me for N400,000 but the market value is
about N2.5m.
"Later, they gave me three Volkswagen Vento cars for
N350,000 each. The market value is actually N600,000. They
sold me a Toyota Camry 1998 model for N300, 000. They
also gave me a Nissan Pathfinder and a Toyota Highlander for
N700, 000 each. I made over 100 per cent profit on each
vehicle."
Asked how he usually sold the car to members of the public
without arousing suspicion, Ekene said, "Nigeria is one of the
easiest places to sell a stolen car. Japanese vehicles like
Toyota and Nissan are in high demand and they move
quickly. When the robbers bring the vehicles, they remove the
number plate. What I do later is to go to Berger, give an agent
N10,000 to help me do vehicle papers.
"A number plate costs about N32,000 to do. If the stolen
vehicle is engraved with the old number, I take the vehicle to
a workshop in Ladipo Market where a panel beater will help
me to remove the old number."
On his part, another suspect, Chukwu, a car dealer, said, "I
usually go to Benin Republic to buy vehicles and I pay
security operatives N35,000 to help me smuggle the cars in
because no one stops them on the road. It was a friend, Uche
that introduced me to an armed robber, Ozo, in Lagos.
"Ozo sold a Toyota RAV4 and a Toyota Camry to me for
N200, 000 each at that time; I did not know he was a robber
until one day. While I was driving with him in a car, he came
down from the vehicle, brought out a gun and snatched a
Toyota J4 Cruiser from somebody. That was when I knew that
he was a robber.
"At that point, I said I wouldn't patronise him any more.
After I had cut ties with him, police arrested him and he
implicated me."