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.”
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