FRSC arrests buyer of stolen vehicle during registration

9 years ago

FRSC arrests buyer of stolen vehicle during registration

The Federal Road Safety Corps, Bayelsa State Command, has seized a stolen Lexus jeep and arrested its buyer at the point of collection of the vehicle’s number plate.

It was learnt that the ‘innocent’ buyer, one Ndubuisi, had gone to get the vehicle registered in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, when he was arrested.

It was said that the vehicle was snatched by robbers from the real owner, Mr. Iwatt Kingsley.

The FRSC state Sector Commander, Mr. Vincent Jack, said Ndubuisi was arrested when he came to register the vehicle.

Jack explained that while one of the officials was uploading the information on the corps’ online portal, it was discovered that the chassis number of the vehicle already existed on their system.

The Commander said, “On Thursday, about 1pm, somebody came with the vehicle to get it registered and uploaded on the national vehicle identification scheme portal where we keep data of vehicles that are duly registered in Nigeria.

“And at the point of uploading this information, we discovered that the vehicle chassis number already existed on our system.

“The official directly working with the state’s board of internal revenue alerted me that there was a vehicle he was trying to upload, but on checking it, the chassis number had the details of somebody in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. However, the person who wanted to upload the information lives in Yene-Zue-Epie in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.”

He said on further prodding, the owner claimed to have just bought the vehicle from Lagos for N1.4m, adding that because of the anomaly, the FRSC decided that it was important they got the buyer arrested for questioning.

He added, “I immediately alerted the police and got the man arrested. Of course, the original owner of the vehicle was also contacted in Port Harcourt.

“From the record we have, we had to call the original owner, Mr. Kingsley Iwatt, who resides at Ilom Street, Woji, Port Harcourt.”

Jack said the arrest underscored the appeal to Nigerians to embrace the proper registration scheme, noting that it came with a lot of advantages in terms of security and safety for vehicles.

He added, “If you register your vehicle properly, and you go through the proper process, anywhere your vehicle is stolen and taken to in any part of Nigeria, it will be found. That is why we are appealing to all Nigerians to register their vehicles properly. Go to motor licensing office yourself and fill all the necessary forms. This idea of passing through middlemen to get number plate is risky. If you enter my office, I can show you over hundred faske number plates we seized.

When PUNCH Metro spoke with the real owner of the vehicle, Kingsley, he said his jeep was snatched from him by robbers at gunpoint on August 6, 2014.

He said on the fateful day, around 10pm, he was going to drop off a friend when the robbers wayla!d him.

Kingsley said, “I was driving to drop off a friend. On entering Rumuomasi around Uyo Street, I stopped my car for the person I wanted to drop to go down.

“Suddenly, I was cornered by a taxi. Four persons came out and one pointed a gun at my head and asked me to lie down. That was how the car was snatched. The next day, I went to police station to report the incident.”

Kingsley said he went to vehicle registration office in Port Harcourt, adding that the man he met assured him he was going to flag the vehicle as stolen.

He said to his amazement, he got a call that his car had been found.

Kingsley added, “The person asked me about my data and whether I sold my car. I told him it was stolen. When I came back from the church, he called me again and said my car had been found. He said I should come to Bayelsa.”

It was learnt that the buyer of the stolen vehicle, Ndubuisi, is currently helping the police with information about the people he bought the vehicle from.

- punch