A 29-year-old automobile technician, Awopetu, (first name witheld) who was arrested for allegedly absconding with a client’s vehicle in the guise of repairing it, has said that, Awopetu was nabbed by the Monitoring Unit of the Oyo State Police Command after he disappeared with an unregistered Toyota Camry handed over to him by the client in Ibadan. The vehicle was recovered in Ilesa, Osun State.
The Command’s Public Relations Officer CSP Adewale Osifeso, who rently addressed journalists during a press briefing on behalf of the Commissioner of Police, Femi Haruna, disclosed that the client, who came to Ibadan to purchase the vehicle, gave it to the suspect, who posed as an automobile technician at Agodi Gate area, to effect minor repairs in it, unknown to him that he had other motives.
The PPRO said that the victim reported the case to a police team assigned to Operation Restore Peace at Agodi when he could not locate Awopetu to take his car after the expected repairs.
Osifeso stated: ‘The matter was subsequently referred to the Command’s Monitoring Unit for further inquiry.
‘Upon the receipt of the case file, a skilled team of detectives from the Monitoring Unit promptly initiated a covert investigation. Their efforts paid off as they were able to identify and track the suspect to a hideout within Ibadan metropolitan area where he was apprehended.
‘The unregistered Toyota Camry was located and recovered from a separate concealment location in Ilesa, Osun State.’
He said that during interrogation, the suspect confessed to his involvement in the crime, adding that investigation was still ongoing.
During the interrogation, Awopetu, who said he hailed from Ilesa, disclosed: ‘I live at Ojoo area in Ibadan. I started living in the city about two months ago. I’m a mechanic.
‘Before coming to Ibadan, I was working as an automobile technician at Owode Onirin in Lagos. However, I had a ‘brain touch’ (mental illness) and was taken to Ilesa where my father lives.
‘A long time after undergoing treatment, I told my father that I was okay and needed to go back to work to fend for myself. My father got me a shop in Ilesa, so I was left with the arrangement on how to start the work. I told him that I would go to Ibadan to hustle so that I would get money. I opted for Agodi Gate area in the city. However, he said I should not go, promising that he would source for money to assist me in Ilesa. I insisted on coming to Ibadan.
‘He repeatedly warned me not to go, but I did not listen to him. I hopped on my bike and left Ilesa for Ibadan.
‘On getting to Ibadan, I didn’t eat for three days because I had no money. Later, a man called me to help him repair a Toyota Camry (Big Daddy). I did the work and was paid. The owner said he would want me to repair the engine. He didn’t take the car away but parked it where I would do the repair.
‘Some days later, when the car owner came back for the work to be done, I told him to let me take it to the place where I would do it. As I was going, a spirit just told me to run away with the car.
‘I started the car and headed towards Ilesa. On the way, the car engine got knocked. I looked around, got an automobile technician and explained to him that I was also doing same job with him, asking him to assist me in the repair. But he said he could not go with me because armed robbers usually operate at the spot of the car breakdown, except it would be towed to his workshop. I gave him N10,000 for towing.
‘When we got to his workshop, he mentioned the things that needed to be bought and I gave him N25,000. I returned to Gate area in Ibadan and bought what he recommended but when it was fixed, the engine did not work, so the mechanic said we would need to remove it. He also said the crown shaft was damaged.
‘Since I didn’t have money to do anything, I asked him to help sell the damaged engine so that I would get money to get to Ilesa. I said I would sell my motorcycle to buy another engine.
‘The mechanic helped me to get a buyer who negotiated it for N100,000. I also got a towing vehicle who charged me N100,000. I sold the alternator and compressor of the vehicle to have money that would help avoid delays on the way to Ilesa.’
Awopetu continued: ‘Meanwhile, I kept my bike with a friend in Ibadan, with the thought of going back for it when done with the stolen car issue. The friend started calling me to ask for the key of my motorcycle. I hid it because I didn’t want him to be riding it to avoid its being detected, so I told him I was in Benin, Edo State, and would soon come back to pick the bike.
‘ Unknown to me, the friend had been arrested. I went back to Ibadan same day with the towing vehicle and got there at about 11p.m. When I got to the friend’s house, I didn’t see my motorcycle. I called him and he said that he used another key to kickstart it and took it to work. Same night, I returned to Ilesa.
‘The following day, I went to my shop which my father got for me and started clearing it in preparation for use. By then, I had bought the engine and taken the car to Ilesa. Three days after, I went back to Ibadan to pick my bike, but didn’t meet the friend at home. I called him and waited for him to come, only for me to be arrested by operatives from Monitoring Unit.’
The suspect, who said that it was his first time of doing such a thing, admitted that all he wanted was to put the car by his shop and use it to keep his work tools.
He confessed that he was taking an illicit drug known as Loud which he said he believed led to his experience with mental illness. He further stated that he stopped taking the drug when he got better as he was warned to stop taking drugs that would make him high. However, he admitted that he took two sachets of ‘Gbefun’ on the day he wanted to go to Ibadan to pick his bike.
‘I know what I did was terribly wrong but government should help me. I will never do such again,’ he pleaded.