By Desire Emmanuel
A car dealer is currently being interrogated by men of the Delta State Police Command after he purchased a stolen vehicle which was sold to him as a Nigerian-used car.
The man landed in trouble after a police officer who wanted to buy the car, a Lexus, decided to conduct investigation about the history of the car.
The officer was said to have taken the particulars of the car to the appropriate quarters and after checking, it was found out that the car was snatched from the owner, repainted and the number plates were also changed.
The Public Relations Officer of the state police command, Bright Edafe, who announced the development in a video posted on his X handle, said when the phone number of the owner of the car was found and he was contacted, he confirmed that the car was snatched from him in Enugu State after the robbers shot him twice.
According to Edafe, the car, which was originally ash in colour, was changed to red. The vehicle was then sold to someone in Enugu who brought it to Asaba, the Delta State capital, and sold it to the car dealer.
The dealer, who gave his name simply as Chukwuemeka, when asked about the car, told the Police PRO that someone brought it to his house from Enugu, adding that the person said he wanted to sell it in order to raise money for a project he was embarking on.
He added that he decided to buy it because the person that brought the car said he wanted to sell it “as a distress” since he needed money urgently. He added that due to the price they agreed on, he bought the car from him and went ahead to sell it as a Nigerian used before he landed in trouble.
When asked if he bothered to ask the man how he came about the vehicle or check its history, he said he didn’t bother because of the amount he offered to pay for it.
The Police PRO therefore warned car dealers, particularly those buying Nigerian-used vehicles, to always do necessary confirmation and checks, especially regarding the previous ownership of the vehicles.
