A 47-year-old hotelier, Paul Niwa, and one Michael Odunayo have been arrested by men of the Ogun State Police Command, for allegedly stealing a company’s bus in Shagamu.
The two suspects were arrested following a report lodged at Ewu-oliwo divisional headquarters Shagamu on April 21 by one Anifowose Kazeem, who reported that he is the driver in-charge of a T4 Volkswagen bus with registration number AAB 22 XB, and that while driving the said vehicle from Abeokuta towards Shagamu at about 1 a.m, of the date, the vehicle developed a mechanical fault at Shagamu interchange, which made him to park it by the roadside with the intention of coming with a mechanic in the morning to fix it. He said surprisingly, when he got to the scene the following morning, the bus was no longer there and all efforts to find it proved abortive.
In a statement released, the spokesperson of the state police command, SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said
‘’Upon the report, the DPO Ewu-oliwo division, CSP Toyosi Bello, detailed detectives to unravel those behind the disappearance of the said vehicle. The detectives, who embarked on technical and intelligence based investigation were able to traced the missing vehicle to the compound of A@Z hotel at Elediye village Shagamu, where the vehicle has been butchered into pieces to be sold in parts. The owner of the hotel, Paul Niwa was there and then promptly arrested and taken to custody. His arrest led to the apprehension of the second suspect 27-year old Michael Odunayo.
On interrogation, Michael Odunayo confessed to the police that it was himself and one Eri Adeyemi, who is now at large, that towed the vehicle away from where it was parked at about 2 a.m and took it to Paul Niwa, who happened to be a regular buyer of such stolen vehicle and he bought it at the rate of three hundred thousand naira.”
Oyeyemi stated that a preliminary investigation revealed that Paul Niwa is a serial receiver of stolen vehicles, which he then dismantles and sells.
He added that the acting Commissioner of Police, DCP Babakura Muhammed, has ordered the immediate transfer of the suspects to State Criminal Investigation Departments for further investigation.
He also directed that the remaining member of the gang Eri Adeyemi be hunted for and brought to book.