Photo: Church member steals pastor’s car in Oyo

The Oyo state police command have arrested and
paraded one Wasiu Adetunji Lawal, a middle aged
man who went to a church in search of a wife
but ended up stealing and selling off the vehicle
of the church pastor in Ibadan, Oyo state.
Paraded along with Wasiu Adetunji Lawal, Isiaka
Babatunde, Jamiu Rahman, Wasiu Adelani and
Abdulazeez Ahmed.
Narrating what happened to Tribune, the victim,
Pastor Akorede Aderounmu said
"The suspect (Lawal) came to our church,
looking for a lady to marry. After a while,
he got close to me. One day, he said he
wanted to help me repair something in my
car. He had earlier said that he was an
auto dealer. He disappeared with my vehicle
for three months before it was recovered
from the person he sold it to in Kaduna.
Before his arrest, I called him severally but
he always told me that he would soon
bring the car, unknown to me that he had
already sold it. I never instructed him to
sell the car as he claimed.”.
The state Commissioner of Police, Leye Oyebade
who paraded the suspect and his accomplices,
said that Lawal went away with the Toyota
Sequia SUV belonging to one Pastor John
Akorede Aderounmu under the pretext that he
wanted to carry out some repairs, only to
abscond with the vehicle.
“The suspect sold the vehicle to a criminal
receiver in Kaduna State without the
knowledge and the consent of the owner,
and refused to respond to the owner’s calls
when he demanded for the return of his
vehicle.” Oyebade stated.
He added that when Lawal was arrested, he
confessed to have sold the vehicle, leading to the
arrest of other suspects. Exhibits recovered from
the gang include a Toyota Sequiao SUV, 13
vehicle particulars, nine forged Customs paper,
number plate with registration number BH 299
BKA and other documents.
When interrogated, the suspect, Lawal denied
stealing the car, claiming it was the Pastor who
asked him to sell the vehicle and he had given
him an additional N400,000 to add to the
N800,000 which he realized from the sale. He
could not however respond when asked why he
wasn't answering the Pastor's call after collecting
the car.