Rasaq AbdulKareem/
The police in Lagos won a battle of wits at the weekend when a UBER driver reported his car stolen but turned out to be the thief.
The 39-year-old driver, Ademola Quadri almost got away with the crime, but the Divisional Police Officer at Igando, CSP Taiwo Kasumu, was smarter.
According to the Lagos State police spokesman, DSP Bala Elkana, Quadri reported at Igando Police Station on July 1, 2019, that three armed men snatched his Toyota Corolla car marked SMK 732 BR that is a property of Pinehill Leasing Ltd.
Elkana said that after listening to the driver’s story, the DPO became suspicious and quickly “activated credible intelligence network following up on call details and relevant messages of Ademola Quadri who was not aware his transactions were being monitored. More facts emerged when a message of N560, 000 entered his phone with a follow-up message demanding to have the car after making part payment”.
Quadri who has been arrested with his accomplice for raising a false alarm on car snatching with intent to cover their crime allegedly confessed to the commission of the crime during interrogations and he had led detectives to Ijegun area of Ikotun where the purported snatched vehicle was kept pending full payment.
Elkana stated: “The police arrested two other suspects namely, Uche Sunday “m” 32 years old, the marketer who claimed to have negotiated the purchase of the car online from Jiji.ng and one other, name withheld suspected to be an innocent buyer. The said Quadri confessed that he cooked up the robbery story to enable him to raise money to buy a ticket and travel to Canada for a better life.”
In view of the crime, the Lagos State commissioner of police (CP) Zubairu Muazu has urged citizens to be careful before parting with funds when carrying out Online transactions.
Elkana said that the suspects have been charged to Court.
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