The police in Edo State have arrested a 25-year-old soldier, Eyosu Kennedy, for allegedly stealing a Toyota Camry car.
Kennedy, said to be a private serving in Battalion 112, Borno State, was over the weekend paraded alongside 48 suspects arrested for various crimes by the state Commissioner of Police, Lawan Tanko Jimeta.
The police said Kennedy stole the vehicle from Abuja and brought it to Edo State to sell 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 customs 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 customs officer and that he was 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 receive salary by month end, I will pay the balance.
“I drove the vehicle to Benin but it developed fault while I driving it round the town. I took it to a mechanic for repair and while fixing it, he asked if I would like to sell the car and I told him yes.
“I told him that I bought it from a customs officer in Maiduguri but that it had no papers. He ask of customs clearance papers since I bought the car from a customs officer and I told him that I don’t have that either because the officer said the car was moved from customs’ warehouse and did not want his boss to know of it.”
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 was interested in the car after driving it round.
He added that, “After bargaining, the officer said I should follow him to the office to collect money as he did not have enough money with him there.
“When we got to the office, he asked for the car papers and I told him how I got the car. They searched the car and found some papers. They called the number on it and the person who picked the call said it was his car that was stolen in Abuja. So, they arrested me. I didn’t steal the car.”
The commissioner however assured that all the suspects would be charged to court.
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