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.