Ex-LG official in Kwara arrested for ‘car theft’

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it has arrested Samuel Adeojo, a former councilor in Ekiti local government area of Kwara state, for allegedly stealing cars.

In a statement on Tuesday, Wilson Uwujaren, EFCC spokesman, said Adeojo is a member of a syndicate “notorious for stealing vehicles from car dealers through pretense as genuine buyers”.

He said the anti-graft agency went after the suspect after a series of petitions against his “gang’s criminal activities” were considered by the Ibadan zonal office of the commission.

“No fewer than three cases of car theft have been established against the syndicate, with all the vehicles involved recovered and kept in the commission’s custody in Ibadan. Investigations revealed that the gang deploys a similar pattern of tricks to steal vehicles from their victims,” the statement read.

Uwujaren said EFCC found that Adeojo often pretends to be a medical doctor, adopting different names and different institutions as his place of work to appear responsible and create a false sense of confidence to penetrate the victims.

In one of those cases, he reportedly claimed to be Gboyega Omojola of the University College Hospital, Ibadan.

The case, which was reported to the EFCC in March, by Tunde Adejuwon, an Ibadan-based car dealer, involved a Toyota Avensis wagon car.

“According to the petitioner, ‘Dr. Omojola’ had come in company of one Babatunde Oni, his supposed driver, to his stand to negotiate for the car and later agreed to pay N2 million for it,” it read.

“After the agreement, ‘Dr. Omojola’ issued a N2 million Skye Bank Cheque ostensibly in favour of the dealer and ordered his ‘driver’ to pay it into his Zenith Bank account at Bodija, Ibadan.

“Mr Oni later came with a copy of the Zenith bank deposit teller, depicting ‘payment’ of the agreed sum into the dealer’s account. It was, however, later discovered that the payment was not approved as the payer used a cloned cheque for the transaction.

“Unfortunately, the decline did not come until after the gang had eloped with the vehicle. A similar scenario also played out in a petition by one Amos Oloja, also an Ibadan-based car dealer.”

The EFCC spokesperson said Adeojo will soon be arraigned in court.