NSCDC officials pose as buyer to recover stolen vehicle

Officials of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps in Cross
River State have recovered a stolen vehicle after posing as intending
buyer to purchase an Acura MDX jeep.

The vehicle was snatched in the Jabi area of Abuja, while a suspected
accomplice, Mr. Felix Ewa, was arrested in Ogoja, the northern part of
Cross River State when he displayed the vehicle for sale at a car
shop.

Parading the suspect at the state Command of NSCDC, the Commandant,
Dr. Benito Eze, said the suspect was arrested at Ogoja-Ikom expressway
following a tip-off.

According to him, the grey coloured Acura MDX jeep was snatched from
the owner on July 24, 2014 at gun point in Abuja by suspected armed
robbers.

He said, "The arrest of the suspect came after we received a signal
from our National Headquarters in Abuja about the stolen jeep; and we
immediately deployed men of our intelligence unit into action.

"With the details and identification which they gave us, we were able
to spread our intelligence network across the 18 local government
areas of the state. On August 2, our men sighted a vehicle with
similar identification at Ogoja- Ikom expressway, but the plate number
had been changed."

He said that the vehicle was displayed at a vehicle stand and marked for sale.

"Our men disguised themselves and proposed to buy the car; and during
the interaction, they had close look at the vehicle and discovered
that the engine and chassis number was the same as the one we had in
our record.

"After observing all these similar identifications, our men had to
re-in force, and the Nigerian Army that were located at Ogoja assisted
my men in picking up the vehicle," Benito said.

He said that after extensive investigation, it was confirmed that the
car was stolen.

"After our preliminary investigation, we had to package the suspect
and the exhibit and hand them over to the police for further
investigation and prosecution. We had to hand over to the police
because the matter is a criminal case," he said.

He advised members of the public to desist from all act of
criminality, adding that they should not buy any vehicle with
incomplete or questionable documents.

However, the arrested suspect told PUNCH Metro that the car was given
to him to sell for a specific amount.

The 29-year-old Ewang said, "I never knew that the car was a stolen
car because I have been selling cars for him; but I will help you with
useful information to get him."