A 55-year-old transporter, identified as Alhaji Ramon Adeleke who was rounded off with his friend recently by the operatives of Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, has said he went into robbery to save the life of his friend who has kidney failure.
Adeleke was caught alongside his friend Lukmon Shoyoye on Close-Circuit Television CCTV in front of a hotel stealing a parked Toyota Corolla around Allen Avenue, at midnight.
Adeleke who confessed to committing the crime, said that, “I gave the money to my friend, Chief Kola, who had kidney problem because he was very sick.”
In his account,“I live in Obilegun Street in Iba, Lagos and married with four children. I am a landlord in Lagos.
“My friend and I went to Airport Hotel at night and at dawn, we stole a Toyota Corolla 2003 model, parked in the hotel. While we were stealing the vehicle, I did not know that the CCTV captured us.
“I took the car to Alhaji who bought it for N400, 000. I gave the money to my friend Chief Kola, who had kidney problem because he was very sick. I gave Lukmon, who went to the operation with me, N80,000.”
38-year-old Lukmon Shoyoye however reiterated in his own defence that, “I have known Ramon for several years. We met when he came to fix the glass of his commercial vehicle. Sometime around November 2014, Ramon called me on phone and said he wanted to see me.
“When we met, he said he wants me to escort him. He told me he wants to seize the vehicle of a friend who owed him but refused to pay. I neither planned nor discussed the operation with him.
“We drove to Allen at about 12 midnight. I became suspicious of his mission when he stole a car that was parked in the hotel. It was Ramon that forced the door of the vehicle open.
“It was when we left the scene that it occurred to me that he actually stole a car. I drove my four-runner Jeep, while he drove the stolen vehicle. He went alone to Ile-Epo to sell the vehicle.
“I do not know for how much he sold the car, but he gave me N80,000 which I used to pay my children’s school fees. I was arrested after Ramon was arrested.
“I am from Abeokuta in Ogun State and married with six children. I am an aluminium fabricator.”
The stolen vehicle has since been recovered while the suspects will be charged to court soon.