A serial motorcycle thief, Michael Ojo, has said the high profit he made each time he stole motorcycles made him remain in the business despite being convicted for the crime.
Ojo and 26 other suspected criminals were paraded by the Ondo State Security Network codename Amotekun for stealing, armed robbery, violation of anti-grazing law, and stealing.
Speaking after Ojo was paraded by the Commander of Amotekun, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye, the suspect said he has lost counts of motorcycles he has stolen since he began the business.
According to him, motorcycles are now more costly and easy to steal than other means of transport. Hence, he remained in the business of stealing motorcycles, dismembered them, and sold them for #30.000 in different parts of the country.
Parading the suspects, Adeleye said 27 suspected criminals who engaged in various security breaches across the state were arrested within and outside the state in collaboration with other sister security agencies.
Adeleye said four kidnapped suspects are going through interrogation, and, if found culpable, would be charged in court.
His words ” You will recall that the last parade we did, we arrested one of the major members of a syndicate that specializes in killing Okada riders, robbing them, and some of them were at large. We went as far as Kogi and Edo before we were able to track and arrest Michael Ojo, who was here on parade.
“He has confessed to stealing so many motorcycles. He said he lost count of them and dispossessed them, dismantled them, took them out of the state, as in pieces. He has been engaging in it, according to him, for the last five years, but in the last year, he intensified it because there is now pressure on Okada, and it’s now more expensive. So, he said that’s why he engages in such trade. He operates in Akure and moves to either Uso or Ogbese. He sells the bikes for N30,000, N50,000.
“We also have Oladimeji and Imole; they only steal where you park your motorcycles. We have Usman Shehu, Ojo, Temidayo, and Pelemo. Four of them were the people who had been joining their colleagues in kidnapping activities around Ikakumo-Akoko. We have four of them here.
We have Akerele Ibrahim, who is also a criminal that has been under tracking for some time, but this time around, he went and threatened to kill a farmer, having destroyed his farmland in the Akoko area too. We have been able to arrest him after evading arrest for so long, we have him here.
“On anti-grazing, we have Wakili Ibrahim, who has been arrested several times and since he is not repentant, he will be going to face the full wrath of the law on anti-grazing charges.
“We also have those that specialize in breaking shops, a shop that engages in the sales of mattresses was completely emptied by them, and they sold these at cheap amounts to people.