Juliana Francis
Detectives at the State Criminal Intelligence and Investigations Department (SCIID), Panti, Yaba, Lagos State, have concluded plans with a complainant, Mr. Rex Uwadiae, to track a fake Lagos State Ministry of Transportation (MOT), identified as Mr. Asheye, who allegedly stole his LT bus.
Uwadiae, who said that the matter happened in 2020, has been angry over the way detectives at D3 SCIID handled it and has made his feelings known.
The incident happened in 2020 and to date, Uwadiae was shocked that the fake official, identified as Asheye, had not been brought to book.
The Unit, according to Uwadiae, is headed by Mrs. Washington, while the team led that handled the investigation was Mr. Ajayi and Balogun. Uwadiae said that his problem with Asheye started after he took his LT Bus to a mechanic workshop.
The panel beater would later call him that officials of the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation (MOT) had placed a removal notice on it, claiming that the bus was illegally parked.
Uwadiae said: “The panel beater said that the bus was parked close to his workshop. After he finished working on it, I took the vehicle to a spray painter’s workshop. The spray painter later called me, saying that MOT officials had placed a removal notice on it again. I couldn’t understand it, it was as if they were targeting the bus.”
Uwadiae said that before he could get there to move his bus, it had been towed from the spray painter’s shop to Ijegun Road, where MOT appeared to have an office. Uwadiae quickly rushed to the office.
He narrated: “When I got there, they asked me to pay N25,000, that my bus obstructed traffic. I argued that it was parked at the spray painter’s shop, but this man, Asheye, said it was illegally parked. When the argument began to drag, I decided to pay, so that I could collect my bus. I didn’t have up to N25,000 with me, but I gave him N5000, promising to return the following day with the balance.”
When Uwadiae got to the MOT office the following day, his bus had disappeared. He had collected Asheye’s phone number the previous day and called him.
Uwadiae said that when he got there the following day, his bus has disappeared. He quickly remembered that Asheye gave him his phone number.
He called Asheye, who told him that the bus had been moved to Elephant House. Asheye further told him that Elephant House was in the Agege area of Lagos State.
Uwadiae narrated: “I chartered a cyclist and we started looking for Elephant House. After a while, someone told me that there was no Elephant House at Agege, and that I should head to Alausa. When I got to the Ministry of Transportation at Alausa, I was asked to check their parking lot, to see if my bus was there, but it was not. I was advised to write a petition to the Commissioner of Transport, Lagos State. The ministry responded that there was no Asheye in their staff record and that the person was a fake official. When I called Asheye, to again asked about the whereabouts of my bus, he pleaded with me to give him time to look for the bus. I gave him about two weeks, but he didn’t get back to me. I called him again and he said I should go, that I shouldn’t call him again with my vehicle issue. I had to report the case to Isheri-Osun Police Station. When we got to the station, the police pleaded with me to give him time to look for my vehicle. I was still waiting to hear from him, when I suddenly received a phone call from policemen at the SCIID, that I was threatening the life of Asheye.”
Uwadiae explained that when he got to SCIID, he presented evidence to show that he only called Asheye asking for his vehicle. The spray painter was also called to give evidence, that the bus was tolled from his shop.
“When it dawned on Asheye that the matter was against him, he promised to pay for the bus. He even signed an agreement to that effect. We agreed to N850,000, but he only paid N100,000. He promised to finish the payment by December 2021, but he didn’t honour it. Whenever the police call him, he would not pick up his calls, and when he picks, he would claim to be sick, and that he needed time to recover. It’s been a year now and Asheye had stopped picking up my calls and those of the police. The police said that they had been looking for him, to no avail. They even had to call his surety. I am so frustrated! This bus is my source of livelihood.”
When Asheye was contacted via the phone number provided by Uwadiae, he promised to call back. After days had elapsed, our reporter called him again, without getting a response.
The reporter after another interval of days sent an SMS, to which he then replied: “I am on sickbed treating stroke hence wish you could exercise patience, please. However, I am an accredited agent for Lagos State and all vehicles removed have been released to the owners, on presentation of the vehicle’s original documents.”
When our reporter contacted the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Benjamin Hundeyin, he said that the detectives handling the case had reached out to Uwadiae repeatedly to come to their office at the SCIID. He once again instructed that Uwadiae should head to SCIID to know the latest on the case. Following Uwadiae’s visit to SCIID, he and the police agreed to team up to smoke Asheye out from his hideout.
