Lagos police uncover syndicate that dismantles, sells stolen cars in bits

The Lagos State Police Command has uncovered a syndicate responsible for the disappearance of most of the stolen vehicles in the state.
According to the commanding officer, CP Fayoade Adegoke, who made this revelation while highlighting the achievements since the resumption of office, the crack team deployed to investigate discovered that most of these cars were butchered and sold in parts.
He said: “Policemen searching for a stolen car made a breakthrough on March 25, 2024, at about 10:10 am following a report of an ongoing butchering of a Sienna vehicle part in the Okokomaiko area a few hours after it was stolen.
According to Adegoke, detectives stormed the area and arrested suspects identified as 31-year-old Gambo Jubril, Muhammed Sanni (31), Usman Sanni (33), Mustapha Saliu (28), Abba Abdullahi (24), Saminu Abubakar (18), Aruna Abdullahi (21), Awoulu Yusuf (25), and Useni Bala (22).
The vehicle was stolen at about 1:30 a.m. in the Era area of Lagos. Its butchered parts were recovered 8 hours later, in the Ojo-Alaba area of the state.
According to Adegoke, the Lagos State Police Command has arrested 64 suspects who have engaged in crimes including armed robbery, cultism, and unlawful possession of firearms and unlawful possession of illicit drugs and recovered a total of 20 firearms, including four toy guns, 120 rounds of toy ammunition, 28 live ammunition, 15 live cartridges, and three expended cartridges, along with the recovery of four vehicles, a POS machine, seven cutlasses, illicit drugs, and various charms.
“Since I assumed duty, a total of 2,329 suspects have been arrested for crimes ranging from cultism to armed robbery leading to the recovery of stolen property. In the same vein, 2,253 have been prosecuted, and many others are being processed for prosecution,” Adegoke announced at the media briefing.