A hotelier identified as Paul Niwa has been arrested alongside another suspect, Michael Odunayo, for allegedly stealing a car.
The 47-year-old hotelier was arrested by operatives of the Ogun State Police Command.
The suspects were alleged to have stolen a bus belonging to A&G Logistics Transport Company, Sagamu.
The arrest of the suspects followed a report lodged at the Ewu-Oliwo Police Division in Sagamu, on Friday by Anifowose Kazeem, the driver in charge of a T4 Volkswagen bus, with registration number AAB 22 XB.
According to the spokesperson of the Ogun State Police Command, Abimbola Oyeyemi, the complainant was driving the vehicle from Abeokuta to Sagamu at 1 am when the vehicle reportedly developed a fault at Sagamu Interchange, causing him to park by the roadside.
However, when the driver got to where he parked the bus the following morning, the bus was no longer there.
Upon receipt of the report, the DPO of Ewu-Oliwo Division, CSP Toyosi Bello, had detailed officers to unravel those who took the vehicle.
According to Oyeyemi, the missing vehicle was traced to the compound of A@Z hotel at Elediye village in Sagamu.
Inside the hotel, “the vehicle had been butchered into pieces to be sold in parts,” he stated.
The hotelier was promptly arrested and taken into custody. His arrest led to the arrest of the second suspect, 27-year-old Michael Odunayo.
According to the police PRO, Odunayo allegedly confessed that he and one Eri Adeyemi, now at large, had towed the vehicle away from where it was parked at 2 am and took it to Paul Niwa, “who happened to be a regular buyer of such stolen vehicle and he bought it at the rate of N300,000.”
Oyeyemi stated further: “Preliminary investigation revealed that Paul Niwa is a serial receiver of stolen vehicles, which he used to dismantle and sell in pieces.
“Meanwhile, the acting Commissioner of Police, DCP Babakura Muhammed, has ordered the immediate transfer of the suspects to State Criminal Investigation Departments for further investigation.”
