Serving army officer in police net over alleged car theft

The police in Edo state  have arrested a 25-year-old serving army officer, Eyosu Kennedy (25), for allegedly stealing a Toyota Camry vehicle.

Kennedy, a Private officer serving In Battalion 112, Borno state was over the weekend paraded alongside, 48 suspects arrested for various crime by the state Commissioner of Police, Lawan Tanko Jemeta.

The police said Kennedy stole the vehicle from Abuja and brought it to Edo state  for sales but was arrested while attempting to sell the car.

In an interview with journalists, Kennedy who hails from Edo state,  said he bought the vehicle from a custom officer.

He said, “I joined the army in 2016, I  was on pass to Edo state when I met a man who sold the car to me in Maiduguri before I left.

” The man introduced himself as a custom officer and that he is selling the vehicle at the cost of N500,000, I told him that the money with me there was N100,000 and that when I received salary by month end, I will pay the balance.

“He said I should give him the money and handed over the vehicle to me with an agreement to  pay the remaining balance by month  end.

“I drove the vehicle to Benin but it developed fault while driving it  round the town. I took it to a mechanic for repairs  and while fixing it, he ask if I would like to sell the car and I told him that the car is on the market.”

” I told him that I bought it from a custom officer in Maiduguri but that it has no papers. He ask of custom clearance papers since I bought the car from a custom officer and I told him that I don’t have because the officer said the car was moved from custom’s ware house and doesn’t want his boss to know of it,” he said.

According to him, the mechanic  told him to  come back  in the evening to meet a buyer, adding that he met a police officer in his workshop who told him that he is interested in the car after driving it round.

He explained, “After bargaining,  the officer said I should   follow him to the office to collect money as he doesn’t have enough money with him there.

“When we get to the office, he asked for the car paper and I told him how I got the car. They search the car and found some papers, they called the number on it and the person who picked the call said it was his vehicle that  was stolen in Abuja. So, they arrested me. I didn’t steal the car,” he said.

The commissioner however assured that the suspects would be charged to court.