Foreign criminal in police net for stealing employer's cars

isaac

September 16, 2015 12:35 PM

A Ghanaian man has been arrested for stealing his employer's cars few days after staring job.

A Ghana car thief has been busted in Nigeria

A Ghanaian criminal suspect who is said to belong to a car snatching syndicate that specialises in stealing cars from their employers, Israel Damascus, has been apprehended by the Lagos State Police Command after his gang was traced to Cross River State where over eight exotic cars were recovered.

Damascus, 35, and married to a Nigerian with a child, confessed to the police that he was in the business to raise money to start a business and that whenever he gets employed, he spends a maximum of two days after which he would steal the employers’ cars and had over to his gang who would dispose of such vehicles.

While parading the suspect who said he came to Nigeria in 2011, the state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, said Damascus' was traced to Calabar where the cars were recovered from them.

One of the cars, Owoseni said, belonged to an Ambassador who had employed the suspect few months ago.

Damascus who said he came to Nigeria to seek greener pastures, claimed a friend he met in the cell of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Ikeja, named Jerry introduced him to the syndicate.

“Jerry and I met in SARS’s cell here. We became friends and kept in touch. I used to work as truck driver in Port Harcourt before coming to Lagos to work as a driver. Jerry said that he would teach me how to make money. He told me to run away with my employer’s car.

The first car was a Toyota Corolla. My boss was at a conference in Ibadan, I ran away with it. I made N400,000 from it,” said the Ghana thief.

He also confessed that he was first arrested by the SARS after he bought a stolen car, insisting that he had only stolen two cars as against the eight the police said he stole.

"I have only stolen two cars from my employers, with the first being a Honda Assent. I made away with the car one day when I took my boss to a pharmacy.

Immediately he stepped into the pharmacy, I drove away with the car and when I got to Ijebu-Ode, I lodged at a hotel and called , the man who links me up to buyers but I was arrested the next day at about 4am when I was taking the car to Orji.

I am not a robber. I only stole cars. I got my last employment through an agency. I registered with them. The agency placed advert. I made N600,000 from the two cars. I pray that God should forgive me for this crime.”

isaac