The Osun State Police Command has recovered 18 stolen vehicles from a syndicate.
The recovered vehicles comprise 12 Toyota Camry, four Toyota Corolla, one Toyota Highlander and one Nissan Sunny.
Apart from the vehicles, one locally-made pistol with one live cartridge and one expended cartridge, charms and 13 pieces of six yards of Ankara, were recovered from the syndicate.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Fimihan Adeoye, while parading the suspects at the police headquarters in Osogbo on Tuesday, said the vehicles were tracked to where they were kept and recovered by his officers.
The CP said the suspects –Timothy Adeleke, a 40-year-old resident of Owode, Ogbomoso, Oyo State; Olufemi Akoodu, of the Apete area, Ibadan; Kehinde Badmos, of Agubelewo, Osogbo; and Olusola Adenle, a resident of Aderin, Osogbo – were arrested in connection with the vehicles.
The CP said, “In December 2017, a case of a stolen vehicle was transferred from the Osogbo Area Commander’s office, together with one Toyota Camry, with the number plate, BDJ 519 EY, belonging to one Mrs. Nasir Fatima. The vehicle was removed from where it was parked on Osunbukola Street, Dada Estate area, Osogbo.
“A team of Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad, led by Oshimi Aderonke, and a team under the command of Felix Adaramola, swung into action. The investigation led the team to Ondo, Oyo, Ekiti and Edo states, where the ringleader, Kehinde Badmos, and other members of the gang were arrested. We recovered 12 Toyota Camry, four Toyota Corolla, one Toyota Highlander and one Nissan Sunny.”
The CP said the suspects would be arraigned at the end of investigations.
Adeleke, who claimed to have started stealing vehicles three years ago, said he sold one of the cars to one Sola.
Badmos, while describing the method the gang used in stealing vehicles, said, “We would open the car and push it away from where it was parked. Afterwards, we would drive it away.”
The suspected ringleader said he knew about five of the recovered cars, but did not know anything about the remaining vehicles.
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