Driver flees with Ogun retiree’s car

A 27-year-old private driver, Emmanuel Bright, has allegedly stolen a Toyota Rav 4 SUV with number plate EPE318HB belonging to his employer, Mrs Deborah Makinde, at T.A. Gardens in the Warewa area of Ogun State.

The 78-year-old retiree, who raised the alarm, told PUNCH Metro on Thursday that the incident occurred on Friday, November 8, around 3 pm.

She narrated that Bright had sought her permission to wash the car, but she turned down his request. Bright was said to have again deflated the tyre of the car while he sought permission to pump it.

Citing her disapproval of the second request, Makinde said the driver thereafter drove the car away with the supposedly deflated tyre.

She said, “I was in the sitting room with my husband around 3 pm on Friday when he said he wanted to wash the car and I said he wanted to wash the car at that time of the day and that he should wait till the evening time. After a while, he came back again and said the tyre was deflated. I knew it was not true because I just returned from the market with the car.

“I told him it was not true and he asked me to come and look at it. When I saw it, I knew he was up to something. So, I asked him to replace it with an extra tyre. That was how he waited for me to go inside and decided to drive the car away with the deflated tyre.”

She added that residents expressed surprise at seeing him drive away with the car in that condition.

“Those who saw him said they were wondering why he was driving the car that way. A PoS operator on the street also said he told her that I asked him to collect N1,000 from her.”

Makinde said she only employed Bright close to three weeks ago, adding that efforts to get his guarantor to intervene had been unsuccessful. “We called the guarantor and told him what happened and he said he had since been saying that he was busy,” she disclosed.

While noting that the incident was reported to the police, she lamented that the car was used to convey her sick husband to the hospital.

“The very day it happened, we went to Warewa Police Station to make a report and since then, they claimed to have been sending messages around. My son also came and spoke to them and they said they were going to track it. My husband is 88 years and he has been sick for a while. This is the car that we use to take him to the hospital. I also have difficulties sleeping due to what happened.”

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, did not respond to calls made to her telephone. A text message sent to her had yet to be responded to.