FCT Police bust car snatching syndicates operating from Abuja to Lagos, recover six stolen vehicles

From Molly Kilete, Abuja

 

The Federal Capital Territory(FCT), police command Command has arrested a two-man robbery gang, who specializes in stealing vehicles from Abuja and taking them to Lagos to sell to unsuspecting buyers.

The suspects Anthony Chibuzor and Jonas Chikwe, also specializes in changing the chassis number of the vehicles after stealing them making it difficult for security operatives to identify the vehicles during stop and search operations.

They were said to have changed the chassis number of a particular vehicle more than five times before they were arrested.

Parading the suspects before newsmen at the command headquarters in in Abuja, FCT Police Commissioner, Benneth Igweh, said that luck ran out for the gang when a friend of a victim whose car was stolen in Abuja travelled to Lagos only for him to see his friends stolen car at a car stand, put up for sale.

Igweh, said he quickly put a call to his friend asked him to come to Lagos and check the car.

The commissioner said that on getting to Lagos, he confirmed the car to be his stolen Toyota Camry and informed the FCT Police authorities who immediately deployed its detectives to the car stand and discovered that the original Chasis number of the stolen car had been changed, the car was recovered and criminals arrested.

The police commissioner while warning criminals that Abuja is no longer safe for them to carry out their criminal activists, said, “On 1st May, 2024, at about 3pm, acting on credible intelligence, police operatives of Apo Legislative Quarters, trailed and arrested two notorious car theft suspects namely, Anthony Chibuzor and his friend Jonas Chikwe both males of Lagos state who have been on the wanted list of the command.

“They are part of a notorious car theft syndicate terrorising FCT and its environs.

“Three vehicles to which the suspects gave no satisfactory account were recovered including a Toyota Camry with Reg No. Lagos 23, an Audi A4 with Reg No. KRD 349 JD and a Honda Accord Sports with Reg No. BDG 42 JC, some of which the Chassis No. had been altered by the suspects.”

Igweh, who gave an update on the successes of police operations in the FCT, said “On 7TH April, 2024, at about 10:30 PM, police operatives from Maitama Division, while on routine Patrol along Nicon Junction, heard a loud cry and swiftly mobilised to the location, where a victim of an armed robbery (one chance) incident, pushed out of a vehicle was found and dispossessed of all her belongings. In response to this, the police operative gave the hoodlums a hot chase forcing them to abandon their vehicle and took to their heels. Information recovered from the vehicle led police operatives to the arrest of four suspects, namely Hamza Ibrahim

Mubarak Abubakar, Abubakar Suleiman and Mohammed Lawal.

The suspects who freely confessed to the commission of the crime will be charged to court soon.

He also said “On 12th May, 2024, at about 11:26 PM, following the report of one Mohammed Musa ‘m’ of Durumi that on the same date, one Kabiru Umar ‘m’ of the same address, broke into his Point of Sale (POS) shop and stole the sum of three hundred thousand Naira (N300, 000), police operatives of Durumi Division swiftly mobilised to the scene and arrested the suspect. Upon interrogation, the suspect confessed to the crime and the sum of one hundred and seventy thousand naira (N170, 000) was recovered from him. Suspect will be arraigned in court soon.

“On 15th April, 2024, at about 9:45 AM, following a report by one Magaji Umar at Lugbe Division that on 14th April, 2024, he boarded a vehicle from Lugbe going to Area 1 when he was suddenly attacked by the two occupants in the moving vehicle and was forcefully made to path with the sum of Two million, two hundred and thirty thousand naira removed from his account. Subsequent investigation led police operatives to the arrest of six suspects; Peter Fateh, Esther Peter, James Ogbuh, Kabiru Buba Kabir Abubakar

The following exhibits were recovered from the suspects:

The sum of Two million, two hundred and thirty thousand naira, A black coloured Toyota Corrola with Reg No. GWA 227 BG, A Golf 3 Salon car with Reg No. KWL 200 CF, A silver coloured Toyota Camry without Reg No Two Locally made cartridge rifles, One locally made pistols

One locally made rifle, Ten live Cartridges and Six live ammunition.