A 26-year-old student of Imo State Polytechnic, Umuagwo, Johnbosco Ashiegbu, and 34-year-old Chinonso Ewurum, have been arrested by operatives of Special Anti-Robbery Squad in Imo State for allegedly stealing two vehicles.
The police claimed that the vehicles stolen by Ashiegbu and Ewurum included a N19m Hilux van belonging to the Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State, adding that the suspects sold the vehicle to one Nnamdi Ejinkeonye in Onitsha for N300,000.
The other vehicle, a Toyota Camry, the police said, was stolen by the suspects in the Imo Housing Estate axis of Owerri, where it was parked by its owner.
The Toyota Camry, valued at N3.9m, was said to have also been sold to Ejinkeonye for N350,000.
The undergraduate, who hails from the Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State, said that he took to the crime so as to raise money to “sort out my results in school.”
He said,
“My desire to sort out my results in school led me into crime. After arranging my results in school, I used the remaining money to live a good life and to take care of my girlfriend.”
He explained that while he got N30,000 from the sale of the Hilux owned by the government, he realised N285,000 from the sale of the Toyota Camry.
A police source, who spoke to Southern City News on condition of anonymity, said the suspects were notorious for using fabricated keys to open peoples’ cars, which they usually sold at Onitsha Market.