I’m Not A Car Thief, I Only Drove It From Abuja To Delta Without Dealer’s Knowledge —Suspect

Meshach Isinugo a.k.a Big Shark, 25, has denied absconding with a car from an Abuja car stand after his detention. He claims he simply took the car he was test-driving to Delta State for business. Big Shark stated that he chose to utilize the car right away because the dealer, who sat in the passenger seat during the test drive, failed to return fast after going to obtain cash to buy petrol at a filling station.

The suspect said that the auto dealer enraged him the day after he arrived in Delta by posting his picture on the internet and labeling him a car thief, as well as threatening him with police action.

He claimed that the dealer’s actions prompted him to turn off his phone and become unreachable before being apprehended in Benin, Edo State.

During a press conference, the state’s Commissioner of Police, Wale Abass, stated that before the suspect’s arrest, the command received a complaint on July 3 from a car dealer in Abuja, simply identified as Rilwan, that a vehicle, a Mercedes Benz saloon car 2021 model, was stolen from his car stand by Big Shark, who disguised himself as an intending buyer. According to the dealer, the suspect fled with the vehicle on June 30 during a test drive.

“Armed with available intelligence, operatives of the CP Decoy Squad stormed Ughelli town at about 0115hours (1:15 am) of 3/7/2023 and recovered the said Mercedes Benz abandoned in a bush along Oteri Road by Doctors Quarters Ughelli North Local Government Area.”

operatives began a manhunt for the suspect which yielded results when he was picked up at a park in Benin, Edo State.

The suspect, who told the Nigerian Tribune that Big Shark was a childhood nickname that he grew up with, gave his background information: “I’m from Ughelli in Delta State, but I live in Abuja. I’m into foreign exchange and bureau de change business. I have been doing this for seven years. I started along that line when I was in secondary school. My business is at Istanbul Airport, Turkey, so I used to shuttle between there and Nigeria. I started it there in 2021. I returned from Istanbul in May after the general elections.”

On how he got into police custody, he said: “I was arrested on July 6 for car theft after I was tracked by the police. Actually, I moved the car, from Abuja to Delta State.”

“I didn’t steal the car, but it was not mine. What happened was that I got the owner’s contact from an online platform (name withheld). He posted the car’s picture on the platform, putting it up for sale. When I called him to indicate an interest, he told me to come for the car inspection. He was also Abuja-based and the location he invited me to was at Garki.

“I saw the car, and the intending seller put the price at N58 million. I offered to pay N30 million and he said I should test-drive it so that I would know the value of what I was pricing. He gave me the car key and sat on the passenger seat.

“When we got to a filling station, he asked me to pull over as he needed to buy fuel for the car. He told me to wait so that he would go and get some cash to buy the fuel. I waited for his return for three hours but he was nowhere to be found, and I was already causing a queue at the filling station. I called his line several times but it was switched off. It was already dusk so I drove to my residence at almost 8 pm. My phone had gone flat then, so I charged it when I got home and called him again. His line was switched off.

“The following day, I drove down to Delta for a business. That same day, I saw the picture that he posted on the internet, calling me a car thief. His call also came in and he told me he had informed the police and they were tracking the car. This made me be mad at him. It was crazy. I switched off my line known to him and started using my other line.

“My uncle saw me with the car and he asked me about it. I told him how the car came by and he got mad and slapped me. He said he would not allow me to drive the car but would report it at a police station. I ran from him because he assaulted me. I was eventually arrested in Benin, Edo State. I didn’t steal the car, I only drove it from Abuja to Delta. If I were the car dealer, I would just look for a way to get the car back. That would work.”

It was learned that the suspect had been transferred to Abuja where the act was perpetrated.