Police arraign driver for stealing employer’s N6.5m jeep

A driver, Chika Nwabueze, who allegedly ran away from Lagos with his employer’s vehicle and other valuables, has been arrested by the police in Port Harcourt.

It was learnt that Nwabueze, who was employed by one Dr. Abosede Olubiyi, a sports medicine specialist in the Lekki area of Lagos, was nabbed in Port Harcourt while driving the car.

Nwabueze, on Thursday, appeared before a Yaba Magistrate’s Court in Lagos. The driver, whose address is unknown, is standing trial before Magistrate A. Ipaye-Nwachukwu on four counts bordering on theft and unlawful possession of property.

Dr. Olubiyi narrated her ordeal before the court. She said, “I hired Chika Nwabueze through an agent in the Lekki area of Lagos on a monthly salary of N30, 000. He had nowhere to live so I gave him my boy’s quarter for free and also paid him lunch allowance daily. Whenever we cooked at home, we always gave him food and I thought all was well until nine days after I hired Chika.

“On April 10, 2014, I told Nwabueze to take me to Montgomery Security Vault, Yaba. When we got there, I told him to park the car while I attended to the matter at hand. Seven minutes later, I came down and could not find my car and Nwabueze. I called Nwabueze on the phone and he told me that he was sorry, that he needed to go and pick something from the Mushin area of Lagos. The second time, he tendered the same excuse and when I called him the third time, his telephone was switched off.

“Agitated, I quickly went to report the theft to the Sabo Police Division. My family felt the case was not being handled well, so the case was transferred to another division. All the information that Nwabueze gave to me was false; his guarantors did not exist, his address was false.

“During the search, we located someone on Facebook who found a lady that knew him. The search team went to Abia State. The friend tricked him that there was another job for him in Lagos. Nwabueze was then apprehended in Port Harcourt while driving the stolen car. He was brought back to Lagos.”

The charges proffered against Nwabueze read in part, “That you, Chika Nwabueze, an employee of one Dr. Abosede Olubiyi, on April 10, 2014 at the Yaba area of Lagos, did steal one Infinity Jeep FX 35, with registration number APP 386 AW valued at N6.5m, the property of your employer, one Dr. Abosede Olubiyi, and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 285(7) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State.

After the charges were read to the accused, he pleaded not guilty. The Magistrate, Mrs A. Ipaye-Nwachukwu, admitted the accused to bail in the sum of N200, 000 with two sureties in like sum.

The trial was adjourned till October 23, 2014.