Matilda Omonaiye/
How long will it take to remove the brain box from a vehicle?
It could take a long while ordinarily, but the police have seen thieves in Lagos who can steal a brain box before you say, Jack Robinson.
Two suspects arrested by the Lagos State Rapid Response Squad, a unit of the Lagos State Police Command, have told how they have been vandalizing vehicles and stealing their brain boxes in record time.
Twenty-eight-years-old Sodiq Musa and Saidu Atiku, 34, were arrested at 27, Awolowo Road, Ikeja with the brainboxes of three Toyota vehicles. A third suspect, Ridwan Adamu, escaped with the fourth box.
Sodiq, who claimed to be a graduate of Political Science from one of the Nigerian Universities where he studied Political Science before he came to Lagos in 2017 in search of greener pasture, said, “I worked in Lagos as a barbeque man in various hotels and events before I met Ridwan who introduced me to brain box theft where he taught me all the antics and styles.
“We use ‘magic stone’ that is, a 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 lose a Toyota Hilux box”.
“The spark plug reduces the noise and effects quick break of any vehicle window and we tie the plug inside a handkerchief in a situation where we have multiple vehicles to work on.”
In his confessional statement to the RRS operatives, Sodiq told the officers that Saidu was a security guard at a company on that street where they were arrested and had earlier in the day called Ridwan who is the leader of the team to come feast on vehicles belonging to their company which are parked outside the company’s premises but which he, Saidu, was supposed to guard.
On getting the hint, Ridwan and Sodiq went to the venue around 1:00 a.m. They broke into two Toyota Hiace and two Toyota Hilux belonging to the company that employed Saidu as night guard stealing their brain boxes before another security nearby raised the alarm. This led to their arrest. Sodiq was caught with three boxes while Ridwan fled with one.
Sodiq was thereafter taken to RRS headquarters, where he confessed to the involvement of Saidu. He disclosed that he invited them for the operation and was reported to have slept beside the vehicles, which they vandalized and stole from while Saidu cooperated and pretended like nothing was happening.
He said, “We specialized 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 sold a Toyota Hiace bus for N40, 000 while that of Toyota Hilux goes for N20, 000 respectively.
“Ridwan connects with the buyers of the brainboxes 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 of the prices.
“Ridwan gives me 40% 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.
The Commissioner of Police, CP Zubairu Muazu in his reaction to the incident directed the transfer of the case to the State CID, Panti.
He urged nightclubbers in the State to be extra careful while enjoying themselves and leaving their vehicles parked where it’s not safe.
0