The police in Lagos on Monday said they have arrested an auto spare parts dealer who took to his heels after the officers flagged down his car for a routine stop-and-search operation in Mushin.
Chike Oti, the Lagos State police spokesperson, said in a statement that the businessman identified as Pius Ebere was driving a Honda Accord with registration number FST 616 DV when he was stopped.
“The police team stopped the Honda Accord saloon car owned and driven by Pius Kingsley Ebere, for a routine check, but instead of allowing the police do their job, the suspect hurried out of his car and escaped into the darkness of the night,” the police said.
The police said the officers towed the vehicle to their station and when the car was searched, the following items, engraved with registration number AAA 472 CP believed to be that of the vehicle from which it was stolen, were recovered: two headlamps, car stereo, four side door automatic control panels, brain box, side mirrors, and four rear seats.
“The suspect who was eventually arrested was however identified by the police as Pius Kingsley Ebere, a millionaire businessman and a big time auto parts dealer based in Ladipo market, Lagos state.
“Investigation revealed that the items were stolen from a Lexus GX 472 SUV aka Jeep, belonging to one Suleiman Waheed Adebola. He has been contacted and he affirmed that the recovered items were parts of his car vandalised in Ekoro area of Lagos state.”
The police said they also recovered other items from Ebere including five brain boxes of Toyota and Lexus vehicles; four car stereo sets; a pair of Toyota Corolla 2011 rear lights; a pair of Toyota Corolla 2011 headlamps; three pairs of side mirrors; and one front grill cover of Infinity Jeep.
All the items, the police said, were engraved with the licensed registration numbers by their various owners who had been contacted by the police to report with proof of ownership.
The police explained that Ebere was not working alone, that he had an accomplice.
“Further revelation by the suspect, led to the arrest of his accomplice, Peter Attah, aka Dangote, also an auto parts dealer at Ladipo Auto spare parts market where a search warrant was executed and various types of suspected stolen car parts were recovered,” the statement added.
The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Imohimi Edgal, advised vehicle owners to engrave their registration numbers on their vehicle parts to discourage theft.
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