Car Dealer Narrates How He Bought 50 cars From Armed Robbers
39-year-old from Abeokuta, Ogun State,
thought of delving into the business of
selling cars. Wanting to take after his friend
who was also in the business, he said the
huge profit being made attracted him to it,
but he did not seek for advice from his
friend before embarking upon it.
Unfortunately for him, the first time he
made a trip to Cotonou to buy a secondhand
vehicle for resale in Nigeria, the car was
impounded by the Nigeria Customs Service
and he made a loss.
So when he got back to Nigeria, he went to
his friend to seek for advice. It was then his
friend told him about the secret behind his
car dealership business: buy stolen vehicles
from armed robbers at cheap prices and
resell at higher prices, but still lower than
the actual market prices.
For three years that Adewusi tried this
method, he said he had sold up to 48 cars
which were stolen by his armed robber
partners. But ill luck caught up with him in
June 2014 when one of the cars that his
colleagues had stolen was tracked by the
police. He was implicated in the matter and
is now in the custody of the Special Anti
Robbery Squad of the Lagos State Police
Command.
He told Saturday PUNCH that,
"Being in my mid-thirties and having nothing
to show for it, I thought of businesses that I
could do that would fetch me huge profit.
"I also partnered with some armed robbers
that my friends introduced me to. They
specialised in snatching cars and from them
I used to buy and sell cars to people. I have
been in the business for about three years
now until June when I was arrested by SARS
men. Meanwhile, I still used to travel to
Cotonou to buy cars for resale, but many of
the vehicles that I had sold so far were the
ones I bought from these armed robbers."
Adewusi added that his armed robber
partners usually operated in Lagos and
Abeokuta, Ogun State and that they only
specialised in stealing Toyota and Honda cars
because those were the two brands his
clients used to demand from him and also
because "those two brands are easier to
maintain than any other brand of vehicle in
Nigeria."
"Apart from selling to other people, I also
used to sell these cars to some friends who
would also resell them. I have sold about 50
stolen vehicles in my three years of
operation. My suppliers used to majorly
steal Toyota Corolla, Camry and Highlander,
and some Hondas.
"Once they bring the stolen vehicles to me, I
would give them money. They used to sell
them for between N500,000 and N700,000
depending on the type of the vehicle. I
would then resell them ranging from N1m
to N1.2m depending on the type of the
vehicle. People used to buy these vehicles
from me a lot because they were cheap."
Asked how he used to get the particulars for
the vehicles since they were stolen, he said,
"There is a person who used to process the
vehicle particulars for me so that I would be
able to sell them. The name is Moji and, she
works in the Licensing Office in Oyingbo,
Lagos. She would process everything for me.
Those documents are, however, fake."
Things were going fine for Adewusi until
June 2014 when he was arrested by SARS
officers when they traced a stolen vehicle to
one of the armed robbers that was his
supplier.
He said,
"One of the armed robbers who used to
supply me the vehicles called me one day
and told me that the car he stole had been
seized by the police. Unfortunately for us
both, the car had a tracker and I guess the
owner had alerted the police to track his car.
"The police were able to track the car and
arrested him. But before then, there were
people who used to help me remove
trackers from them. Their names are
Rasheed and M.S. It was unfortunate we had
not removed the tracker of that car before it
was traced to that my colleague."
On the manner he used to sell the stolen
cars, Adewusi concluded,
"I had no car showroom. People just used to
call me to supply them cars. I operated
from my house in Abule-Egba, Lagos. They
knew I was selling cars but they did not
know where I used to get the cars from.
What attracted them to me were the lower
prices at which I used to sell the vehicles. I
have four children now and a wife. They
have all been shamed now because of my
greed."
Sitting alongside Adewusi is Henry Adebayo.
He said he never knew Adewusi until they
met in the custody of SARS operatives
attached to the Lagos State Police Command,
Ikeja in June 2014. Adebayo narrated the
connection between the two of them.
He said,
"I had a friend who we used to steal laptops
and phones together sometime ago. One
day, we were arrested and we spent some
time in the prison. It was while we were in
the prison that we made other friends. After
we left the prison, my friend met two other
ex-prison inmates and we started doing 'tear
net' business again."
According to Adebayo, the 'tear net' business
is one which involves tearing people's
window nets and stealing laptops and phones
through them. But while still in the prison,
some of the prison inmates he made friends
with were some of the armed robbers that
used to supply Adewusi stolen vehicles for
sale.
He said,
"When we left the prison, my friend told me
that one of our fellow prison inmates who
was a car thief gave somebody a car and that
the person wanted to send him money. He
asked if he could use my account number. I
told him I was not interested. However,
when I came out of the prison, I was so
broke that I had to visit him again to ask for
money to eat. And since we came out of the
prison, we had stolen four laptops and two
phones again. After that operation, I told
him I would not do the business again and I
left him. "Two months later he called me
that the person who we went to the prison
together wanted to receive some money
and that he had given him my account
number. I called that person to know what
kind of deal they had before sending money
into my own account. His name is Monday."
He continued, "I used to live in Agbara,
Lagos but go for 'tear net' operations in Ajah.
So one day, I went for a party with Monday
and his other friends, our ex prison inmates:
Ojukwu, Sunday, Alhaji and others. They
said they were heading towards Ajah and I
followed them for an operation. I was paid
N15,000 as my share for the first operation
and N10,000 for the second one.
"I knew Ojukwu while we were in the prison
yard. I also learnt that Ojukwu had a stolen
Toyota Highlander SUV. When we all left the
prison yard, I called Ojukwu sometime in
June 2014. We went to watch football in the
Isolo area of Lagos as it was during the
period of the Brazil World Cup. After the
match, we went for out 'tear net' operation.
For three days, we stole four laptops and
two phones.
"After that, I said I would not do the
business again for the second time. I wanted
to do a local job, but I still used to call him
whether he too had found something else to
do. One day during our conversation, he
asked if I had an account that someone
wanted to send him some money. When I
called the person, he told me to come for
the money. I called Ojukwu back and he said
it was the buyer of the stolen Highlander
who bought the car when we were in the
prison.
"As I called Ojukwu again one day, he told
me to come and that we should go to the
market. On that day I was arrested by the
police because of my bank account being
linked to the operation. That buyer of the
Highlander from Ojukwu is this Henry
Adebayo. It was through Ojukwu that I am
now in the custody of SARS men. I never
even collected the money. I knew nothing
about it."
Regretting his actions, he said,
"I am 30 years old with two children and a
wife. I used to be a mason before. I was also
into agriculture before. In fact, I am a
Christian and even used to be a worker in
the church. It is not my destiny to be here.
The next time I would be interviewed, it
would be for good."
.
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