Spare parts dealer, another held for car theft at Redemption Camp

TRACKING____Police in Ogun State have arrested two suspected criminals for allegedly stealing different vehicles at the Redemption Camp on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

The suspects, 43-year-old Friday Ezi and 27-year-old spare parts dealer, Onyekachi Atama, were alleged to have stolen up to seven vehicles during various religious programmes at the camp.

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Abimbola Oyeyemi, said in a statement yesterday that the arrest of the suspects followed a report by one of the victims of the car theft.

He said Ezi was a resident of No. 5 Adesuah Iyamo, Benin City, Edo State while Atama resided at Akabigbo Street, Ugwuagba, Onitsha in Anambra State.

The PPRO said the suspects had confessed to the criminal act and would soon be prosecuted after investigation.

He said: “The suspects were arrested following a report by Titilayo Otitodogbon who reported at Redeemed Camp Police Station on the 1st of February 2020 that she parked her Toyota Camry car with registration number LND 636 EZ on Diligent Road, Redemption Camp, but on getting back to the place in the evening of the same day, the car has been removed from the park by unknown thief/thieves.

“Upon her report, the DPO Redeemed Camp, CSP Chris Amanyi, detailed his detectives to swing into action and bring the perpetrators to book.

“The detectives embarked on full scale forensic and technical investigation which yielded positive result when Friday Ezi, who actually stole the car from Redeemed Camp, was traced to Edo State where he was promptly arrested on the 10th of March 2020.”

“His arrest and eventual confessional statement led the operatives to Onitsha in Anambra State where Onyekachi Atama, who is his receiver and an accomplice, was also arrested on the 15th of March 2020.

“Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspects have stolen up to seven different cars at the Camp but they confessed to have stolen only two cars on different occasions.

“Onyekachi Atama, who is a spare parts dealer at motor parts market in Onitsha, confessed that once the vehicles were brought to him by Friday Ezi, he used to balkanise them and sell such vehicles in parts.”

Oyeyemi, however, said the state Commissioner of Police, Kenneth Ebrimson, had directed that the suspects be transferred to the Anti-Car Theft Section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) for proper investigation and prosecution.