DRIVER WHO ESCAPED WITH EMPLOYER'S N6.5M VEHICLE ARRESTED

Operatives of the State Criminal Investigative Department in Lagos have arrested a 26 -year-old driver who absconded with his master’s sports utility vehicle, valued at N6.5 million, less than three months after he was employed.

The suspect, Kingsley Nwabueze, was a few days ago arrested in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, after the police tracked one of his friends who was used to lure him from the Eastern part of Nigeria to Port Harcourt

Crime and Security gathered that the suspect had perfected plans to dispose of the vehicle and had put it up for sale, before the long arm of the law caught up with him. He is currently being detained and investigated at the State CID, Panti, Yaba.

A close friend of the owner of the vehicle, who pleaded anonymity, while speaking with Crime and Security said that the SUV owner, a woman, Abosede Olubiyi, had for long been searching for a private driver to help her with her business around Lagos.

Crime and Security gathered that Nwabueze’s journey to police custody started on the morning of April 10, 2014, when his boss instructed him to drive her in her newly acquired Infinity FX 35 SUV to keep an appointment in Yaba area of the state.

“When they got to the place, there was no parking space and because the woman was running out of time, she quickly jumped out of the vehicle and told him to look around for a parking space, but that was the last that she saw of the driver and the vehicle until he was arrested a few days ago,” the police source said.

The policemen in their resolve to track the suspect were able to trace a friend of his, who by then had relocated with him to Port Harcourt. The police invited his friend to Lagos with a promise that they had just secured a very lucrative job for him.

The arrested friend cooperated with the police and Nwabueze was traced to Imo State. After some persuasion from his friend who also lied to him that he had a very lucrative offer for him, he appeared in Port Harcourt and was arrested.

The suspect confessed to the police that he actually stole his master’s car and added that he had put it up for sale at an auto shop in Aba.

The acting image maker in charge of the state police command, Lelma Kolle, confirmed the arrest of the suspect to Crime and Security and added that the police would carefully examine his past activities so as to ascertain if he had been a wanted criminal.