The police have nabbed a senior pastor at the Ministry of the Holy Ghost, Joe Akan, alongside four others for allegedly snatching a Toyota Highlander SUV in a robbery operation in the Agege Area of Lagos State.
However, the police said that two suspected members of the gang, Charles Lekan, 25, and another simply identified as Uche, are on the run, the Vanguard reports.
Uche, who was described as the mastermind of the operation, allegedly sold the idea of jacking the car to Pastor Akan and Lekan. he later invited Obi Isaac, 33, and Wasiu Jamiu, 26, to beef up the gang.
The gang members, however, ran out of luck when they could not sell the car at an asking price of N800,000. They contacted another suspect, Olufemi Emmanuel, 39, who took the car to three prospective buyers in Owode, Ogun State, Ladipo and Fagba areas of Lagos, where the buyers offered to pay N300,000 for the stolen car.
Whilst other members of the gang agreed to sell the car for N300,000, Lekan reportedly disagreed. This led to friction among the gang members. According to the Vanguard, the suspects removed some parts of the vehicle which they sold at Ladipo auto market in Lagos and allegedly gave Pastor Akan N50,000.
However, Pastor Akan denied culpability, saying “I was at the mechanic workshop (last Wednesday), servicing my bus when I was apprehended by some policemen over my involvement in a car robbery I never participated in.
“I resisted at first, but after they showed me their ID cards and a gun, I followed them to the station, where they told me that my conductor mentioned my name during interrogation.”
One of the suspected robbers, Charles said he decided to join the gang because he was so broke he couldn’t afford to feed himself.
He said: “Uche and I worked together at Atogba garage in Agege. I decided to assist him to snatch the highlander SUV, which he said would be sold for N800,000 because I needed money to feed my family as customers are no longer coming as they used to.
“This is my first time of doing this. We did not use any gun or weapon on the owner; we only took the car and sped off.”
