Four members of a car snatching syndicate have been apprehended by the police in Ogun and Lagos state.
The syndicate, who specialises in stealing cars from UBER drivers in Lagos, were arrested from their hideouts in Edo State.
The suspects, Adams Michael Onoriode (44), Ojokola Matthew (40), Osihkena Mercy (27), and Ejeh Esther (29),
The police identified the leader of the gang as Adams and that he is in charge of the operational unit of the gang.
The police said Adams’ modus operandi is to call up an Uber driver under the pretence that he is going to need the service of the uber for three days but, at the end cart away the vehicle having secured the confidence of the driver
The Public Relations Officer in charge of Zone 2 Command, SP Hauwa Idris Adamu, confirmed the arrest and with the recovery of two cars from the gang.
Adamu revealed that their arrest followed a petition from one Akolawole Omowunmi, who happens to be an Uber driver.
“Akolawole Omowunmi uses his Silver Toyota Camry Saloon car 2009 model with Registration number BDG 80 HU for Uber services. He claimed to have received a call from the principal suspect ‘Adams’ who booked a ride from Lekki phase 1 at Presken Hotel.
“Upon arrival, Adams told the victim to cancel the ride and take an offline trip; under the guise of engaging his services for three days, which he obliged.
“On same day at about 8am, Mr Adams called the petitioner to drive him and his girlfriend to a supermarket in Lekki and the suspect intentionally left his phone in the car and requested all three of them; the Uber driver, the suspect and his girlfriend to go into the mall to shop.
“While at the Mall, the suspect deceived the petitioner and collected the car key from him, claiming he wanted to take his phone from the car with the above mentioned description. After sometimes, the victim realised that his car had been removed from where it was parked. He later saw the suspect driving the car on the other side of the road on high speed but could not do anything to stop him as he watched the suspect drove his car off,” she added.
She said on May 24, 2023, detectives from the Zonal X-Squad moved to Edo and Delta states where the principal suspect and three other suspects were arrested along with the exhibits
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