A 24 – year old driver accused of stealing his
boss' car, TVs and a pet dog, has confessed that Christmas needs of his
siblings pushed him into the stealing.
The
suspect, Abass Ope, from Ogun State was arrested at Ojuelegba area of Lagos by the
Decoy Team of Rapid Response Squad(RRS) of the State Police Command, on last
year Boxing Day.
He was
picked up by the Police while trying to sell off his ex-boss’s Toyota Avensis
2013 model with the registration number AGL 734 AR for N2 million.
Arrested
along with him were three of his friends: Balogun Oluwaseun (23); Sanni Azeez
(23) and Stephen Ewiele (22).
Abass
had during Christmas period stormed his boss Magodo home while he and his
family were holidaying in Delta State, with a conspirator to move a 100 inches
LCD TV, another 42 inches LCD TV, a dog, a suitcase, 2 DSTV decoders and a
Toyota Avensis, from the home.
It was
learnt that the suspect invaded the home of his ex – boss after learning that
he had travelled to Delta State for the Christmas holiday, and that the
gatekeeper had also gone to church.
Our
source said that the suspect was aware of where his boss usually kept keys to
his rooms which made it easy for him to commit the crime.
It was
revealed that his ex – boss, on getting report of missing vehicle and property
called the suspect on more than two occasions to intimate him of the
development but he denied knowledge of the incidence.
The
source further added that the boss had to cut short his holiday in Delta with
his family to report the incident at Magodo Police Station.
The
source added that he was shocked when an official of the RRS called him to
notify him of his recovered vehicle because, he never reported the theft in RRS
office.
According
to Abass, “I took the car because I had no money to take care of myself and
younger ones. They had no clothes, no shoes and this is Yuletide season. They
looked up to me to take care of these expenses".
"It was about three months now that I left
Mr. Ekinodo (his former boss).I had worked for him for four years before
leaving him on August, 2016. I left because he had a little challenge and
things were pretty tough for him. I left so that he could have himself sorted
out".
He continued; “he was a very nice boss to work
with. He enrolled me into University but I couldn’t continue the education when
I left him. While he had this challenge, he owed me 8 month salary, this
prompted me to take his property and the vehicle”.
He added, “the auto dealer wanted to pay N2
million for the car but I insisted he pays N4 Million because I know it is
worth more than that.
He offered me N1million instantly and that the
balance would be ready in about few minutes time, but I decided to ignore the
offer hoping that the dealer would call me back for a re-negotiation”.
“I went
back to Ojuelegba few hours later in company of three of my friends, that was
when RRS operatives arrested us”, he stated.
According to Ekinodo Ifoghale said, “I am in
shock. This is a guy I treated like a son. Apart from my wife, he was the closest
person to me. This is a guy that did my shopping for me. Even, before I buy
anything for myself, I bought for him first”.
“How can I owe him 8 – month salary when he never
worked for me in those periods? Did he inform me that I owed him? He was never
in my house in the periods he claimed.
I called him more than twice when I got the report of the break in. He told me
he knew nothing about it. If he had told me he needed money, I would have given
him because we were still very close despite the fact that he was no longer
working for me”, he added.
Confirming
the incident, the State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Superintendent
of Police, SP Dolapo Badmos, advised members of the public to always do a
background check of their domestic servants so as not to expose themselves to
criminals.
The
suspects have been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation
Department (SCID)Yaba, for further investigation.