Robber takes car to pastor for
blessing, police nab him in
church
By TheHerald Admin on
October 21, 2013
A man, Yinka Oyeniran, who
was nabbed after he kept a
Toyota Camry snatched by his
gang members in a church has
been remanded in prison
custody after his case was
charged to court last Friday.
Forty-five-year old Oyeniran
was arraigned in Magistrates’
Court 2, Iyaganku, on a two-
count charge of conspiracy and
robbery. He was accused of
conspiring with others at large
to dispossess a woman of her
Toyota Camry car with
registration number LSR 292 AT
in Ibadan, along with other
valuables.
Oyo State Police Public
Relations Officer, Olabisi
Okuwobi-Ilobanafor, had told
journalists recently that
Oyeniran was arrested in his
church in Gbongan, Osun State
through the collaborative
efforts of policemen from Oyo
and Osun States who laid
ambush for him after they
traced a car that was snatched
in Ibadan, Oyo State, to the
church premises.
Though Oyeniran attended
church regularly and deceived
members of his church at
Akinlalu junction in Gbongan,
that he was a fervent and
devout Christian, God proved to
him that He cannot be mocked
as his criminal acts became
exposed through the car he
kept in the church premises.
Oyeniran, an indigene of
Gbongan but who farms in
Modakeke town, also in Osun
State, had told his pastor and
members of the congregation to
rejoice with him over the
purchase of a Tokunbo Toyota
Camry car. Unknown to the
pastor, however, Oyeniran and
his four-member gang had
snatched the car from a woman
in Ibadan.
Crime Reports gathered that the
four-man gang which operated
with the use of motorcycles,
trailed their victim from a
fellowship centre to her
residence at Kute Wofun area of
the city with an unregistered
red Honda motorcycle on
August 10 at 9p.m., and
robbed her of the car valued at
N1.3million.
Not only that, the armed
robbers reportedly collected the
woman’s handsets, handbag,
Blackberry valued N67,000,
jewellery valued at N100,000
and a sum of N120,000 cash.
Unfortunately for the armed
robbers, the car was tracked to
Oyeniran’s church where he hid
it. Crime Reports learnt that
Oyeniran was forced to push
the car into the church
premises when it stopped
working after it was
demobilised.
In an interview with Crime
Reports when the accused was
paraded by the Oyo State
Police Command, he mentioned
his gang members as Taiye
Victor, Tunde, an okada rider
and another man whose name
he claimed he did not know.
The accused also revealed that
he had gone for robbery on two
or three occasions but denied
ever using a gun, saying that
the guns they were using
belonged to other members.
Describing how the operation
was carried out, Oyeniran had
said that it was Taiye who held
the gun while he held a pipe
they used in threatening their
victim. He also said he was the
one who collected their victim’s
money, handsets as well as car
key while Taiye demanded for
the original documents of the
car and removed its number
plates. He however said he tore
the documents into shreds and
threw them into the bush on
the way to Gbongan so as to
avoid the scrutiny of policemen
on the highway.
Before Oyeniran confessed his
deeds, he had initially denied
snatching the car, telling the
police that he bought the
vehicle for N1million from Taiye
who purchased it from Cotonou
in Republic of Benin. The
accused said he paid N200,000
upfront and gave an additional
N300,000 when the car was
brought, claiming that he was
still owing Taiye a balance of
N500,000.
Other items recovered from the
suspect, according to the
PPRO, included one
unregistered red Honda
motorcycle, one red Nissan
Sunny car with registration
number AP 406 SGB, a bunch of
keys and a rectum cable wire
The sitting magistrate in Court
2, Mrs Oyediran, ordered that
the accused be remanded in
prison custody and adjourned
the case till November 19,
2013.
