A Lagos-based developer, Olakanmi Ogundele, has raised the alarm after a newly hired driver, Olufemi Jogbodo, allegedly fled with his Gelly Saloon vehicle with number plate AGL586GW, just four days after resuming work.
Ogundele told PUNCH Metro on Sunday that the suspect, who initially identified himself as Adeleye, was assigned to him by his company’s manager on November 18 after his former driver fell ill.
He said Jogbodo accompanied him on a trip to the Ijebu Ode area of Ogun State on the same day and returned with him to Lagos on November 20.
According to Ogundele, the suspect also took him to the office the following day before he later absconded with the vehicle while he was in a meeting.
He said, “My driver was sick and I told my company to get me another driver because I was going to travel to Ijebu Ode. So, they got a driver on October 18, and we went to Ijebu Ode together and came back on October 20. Then, he took me to my office in Ikoyi. I was in a meeting in the office when he told the security that I sent him on an errand. The security could not come in to confirm with me because the meeting was still ongoing. That was how he went with the car and never came back.”
Ogundele said the matter was immediately reported to the Ikoyi Police Division’s tactical team, who began tracking the suspect.
He, however, lamented that no progress had been made since the search for his whereabouts.
In a document sent to our correspondent on Sunday detailing the suspect’s information, he was discovered to be 44 years old and also a resident of Dele Ogunbowale Street in the Ikate area of the state.
The document also revealed that he runs 11 different bank accounts.
Ogundele, however, noted that some of the suspect’s relatives were also tracked and arrested.
“We have arrested his wife’s sister and one of his cousins, but we have to release them because they have stayed more than the permissible period in detention. During our findings, we discovered that she had an aged mother who is about 75 years old and stays around Agbado Ijaiye, but we could not arrest her because of her age,” Ogundele disclosed.
He further explained that the manager who sourced the driver was also arrested and interrogated.
He said, “We arrested the manager and interrogated him. He said that because I was in a hurry to travel, he could not get the information he had provided before they gave it to me. The manager did not do his due diligence by confirming the identity and address of the driver. Everything he gave was fake. When he was employed, the name he gave us was Adeleye, whereas his real name is Olufemi.”
Ogundele disclosed that plans were underway to place a bounty on the suspect to aid his arrest and the recovery of the vehicle.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Adebisi Abimbola, could not be reached as calls made to her phone were not responded to. A text message sent to her had yet to be replied to as of the time this report was filed.
PUNCH Metro reported in August that the Lagos State Police Command smashed a suspected car theft syndicate accused of using fake drivers to steal their employers’ vehicles.
The Commissioner of Police, Olohundare Jimoh, said the gang leader, identified as Chinedu Emmanuel, was arrested during an operation that took place on July 17 in the Ogijo area of Ogun State.
According to him, Emmanuel recruited criminally-minded drivers and recommended them to unsuspecting car owners for employment.
The police boss explained that the drivers took over the vehicles of their employers after spending a week or two with them and thereafter took them across the border.
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