A company driver, arrested by the operatives of the Rapid Response Squad
(RRS), Lagos Police Command in collaboration with Sango Area Command,
Ogun State for stealing a company’s bus, has disclosed that his pastor
directed him to tell a lie that he was robbed and the vehicle taken away
from him by his assailants.
Crime Reports gathered that the
suspect, Daniel Ogunlade (25), was sent on an errand within Lagos by the
company’s Managing Director on Christmas eve in 2015, but diverted the
bus, a Toyota Hiace 2014 model with the registration number EKY 463 DM,
to Ifo, Ogun State.
One Oyetade Ade (30) was also arrested in connection with the case.
The
Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni had on Christmas eve
directed the Commander, Rapid Response Squad, ACP Olatunji Disu to work
towards the recovery of the Toyota bus which was tracked to Ifo, after
which the Sango Area Command secured the vehicle along with the two
suspects.
Reports reaching Crime Reports indicated that
Ogunlade, who had been working with the company for about three years,
was directed to pick up a company client at the Muritala Muhammed
International Airport, Ikeja and drop him in Ajao Estate, but he took
the bus to Ifo, Ogun State where the Rapid Response Squad tracked the
vehicle.
In a disclosure after his arrest, the suspect said that
a pastor of a white garment church which he attends tutored him to tell
his boss that armed robbers snatched the bus, a sum of N150,000 and a
Christmas hamper from him.
Ogunlade, who stated that he was not
too sure that the pastor (name withheld) was not using a supernatural
power on him, added: “when I was on Third Mainland Bridge around 11.30
a.m., en route Muritala Muhammed International Airport to pick a client,
I received two calls. One was from my father who told me that my mum
was sick and the other one was from my pastor who directed that I should
proceed to his church in Adiyan, Ogun State.
“As if propelled
by forces beyond me, I headed straight to the church with the company’s
bus. This was contrary to my itinerary for the day, which was to wait at
the airport for the client with a delayed flight, drop him in Ajao
Estate and give some people N150, 000 and return the vehicle to Lekki.
“At
the church, the pastor told me to drop the hamper for him, even when I
told him that my boss said I should give it to someone at the airport.
“He
then asked if I knew that the day, December 24, 2015, was Imoke Day. I
answered in the affirmative, and he directed me again to join the church
there. A church member, Oyetade, joined me in the bus and I was in Ifo
to buy fuel when the bus stopped moving. I invited an electrician and he
was about to start working on it when we the police came.
“I
called the pastor at about 7.30 p.m. to inform him that the bus had
stopped working and he replied that I should tell my boss that armed
robbers snatched the bus from me. But I was I didn’t know what to say
when my boss called me”.
Ogunlade expressed surprise that the
pastor denied collecting the hamper from him, saying: “He abandoned me
and a church member that I offered a ride at the petrol station. He
didn’t even attempt to see us at the police station”
He stated
that he wasn’t trying to run away with the bus and N150,000 his boss
gave him, “I can’t explain exactly how I got to where the police
arrested me. My boss was doing his best. He was paying me N60,000
monthly as salary. Though I am struggling with my finances, I never
planned to steal the vehicle,” Ogunlade said.
Crime Reports
learnt that the suspects, who were initially transferred from Sango Area
Command, to the RRS headquarters in Ikeja, had been taken to the
Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) unit, Ikeja, for further
investigation.