• His confession, exploits across the city

By CHIOMA IGBOKWE

Have you ever thought of this: that the man you put in charge of your safety and that of your property in your neighbourhood as Landlords/Residents Association chairman is an armed robber using the cover of the night to torment you and your neigbours? Then better read this story about Daniel Egwe who is the chairman of Landlords Association, Celenisa community along Badagry expressway, Lagos.

Daniel was arrested by operatives of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Intelligence Response Team (IRT) over the theft of several cars within his community and other parts of Lagos. He was arrested alongside his alleged gang members identified as Bademosi Adebayo and Nnamdi Ariwodo who were picked from different locations in the state.

Their arrest

Saturday Sun learnt that some of their victims whose cars were either missing or robbed reported their encounters to the police. Through intelligence gathering, detectives were able to trace Daniel Egwe aged 42 to his Celenisa community.

According to the police, when his name and location became obvious, they met a lot of resistance in the community as some residents kept insisting that the suspect police detectives were looking for can never be their own Daniel Egwe.

Reason being that he is the chairman of the Landlords Association who is seen as a responsible businessman that had ensured the progress of the community. He is also seen as someone who had worked to reduce crime in the community because he was able to hire security men to guard their area.

Confession

At the police station, Daniel who hails from Kwale in Delta State admitted that he had stolen several cars without the knowledge of their owners but he never touched any car that belongs to members of his community. “I am the chairman of Landlords Association and my people respect me a lot. When I won the election, I promised to help guarantee the security of lives and properties in the community. Whatever I did affected other areas of Lagos State.”

On how he ended up as a thief, Daniel claimed that he was introduced to the new line of business (stealing) when Nigeria Customs Service officials in Lagos allegedly defrauded him. “I was initially into importing of cars from Germany. I made a lot of money and bought and built houses in Lagos especially in my community. I also got married. Unfortunately, two years ago I was swindled by Customs officials.  I officially paid for a container load of goods seized by Customs. They assured me that I will get big cars and other good products in the container as soon as I paid. I knew how it works, so I paid N1.8million and collected my receipt. I then used N2.2million to sort the officials so that I will be attended to as soon as possible. It was also from the N2.2 million that I paid for clearance at their Ikorodu depot.

“After spending more than N4million, I discovered that the container was full of junks and two cars, a 1999 Nissan quest and a pathfinder. Both cars cannot give me up to N1million when sold. I was devastated and in debts. I actually borrowed some money to be able to raise N4million cash. This was how I lost everything and as a father, I still needed to maintain my family. Above all, I am a well-respected person in the estate and I wanted to contest as the chairman Landlords Association of the estate.

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“That way, it became easy for me to go into crime. I normally visit the Apapa port to seek for minor jobs; this was how I met Bademosi who is also in need of money. We learnt how to break into cars and decided to work as a team.”

According to Daniel, it was the proceeds from car theft that he used to campaign and win the election. “To become the chairman of Landlords Association is not an easy thing. You have to lobby other landlords to vote for you. This includes giving them money, so I spent some of the proceeds on those landlords that voted for me.”

Modus operandi

On his various exploits, Daniel told the police that they make us of magic key to open cars. “I can open any car as long as it has no security gadgets that could trigger the alarm. We are so careful that even if the alarm goes on, I will smartly walk away. We normally target event centers and shopping malls where people park cars and leave valuables in the car. To avoid arrest, we concentrate more on stealing valuables inside the car.”

On how and where they got the magic key, Daniel said it is very easy. “All you need is screw driver, then look for those that normally sharpen knives. They will cut it to size.”

Another suspect speaks

The second suspect, Bademosi who is from Surulere in Lagos State, also told the police that it was frustration that led him into crime. “I am not an armed robber, all I do is break into people’s cars in their absence and steal their belongings. There is a difference between the two. I am simply a thief, not an armed robber. My only weapon is this magic key.

“I used to be a dock worker at Apapa port. Unfortunately, two years ago, the company that I was working for closed down and left the country. I am a family man, so I cannot tell stories. All I did was to come to the port and hang around in case any other person wants to hire me. It was in the process that I met Daniel who told me the way out. We don’t normally snatch cars, all we do is open the car parked around market areas and steal any valuable within reach.”

Listing some of their successful raids, Bademosi who resides at 17/18 Oladumoye Street, Isheri, said, “the first time was at Alausa, close to Fela shrine. There is always an event taking place there. With the aid of the magic key, we opened a Honda car and found N180, 000 inside one of the bags in the car. We also took the packet of children juice and several beverages that we saw in the booth of the car. 

“The highest so far was at Gbagada close to that place that they sell ram. It was during a Moslem festival and a lot of rich men came to buy ram. We posed as if we also came to buy ram and watched people coming in and out. As soon as we get our target, I will watch out for the owner to be sure that he or she is not returning to the car very soon. Daniel will then pretend as if it is his car. It is a quick process, so passersby will not suspect anything. Luckily for us that very day, we got N280, 000 in the car.”