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The car dealer whose car was stolen earlier this week by a thief who then went on a rampage as he tried to flee has revealed that the thief has been released.
Chima Edmund, the car dealer, has accused the Lagos State Police Command of releasing the man suspected of attempting to steal a 2025 Toyota Tundra pickup worth about N130m from his showroom in the Victoria Garden City area of Lekki, Lagos State.
A video of the incident went viral on Tuesday, October 13, as locals beat the thief and pulled him out of the canal before handing him over to police.
Edmund estimates the cost of repairing the damaged vehicle at about N40m.
Speaking exclusively with PUNCH, Edmund said the suspect arrived at the dealership around 4pm carrying a bag and asked to inspect the pickup.
He said a junior staff member attended to the man, who requested the key to the unsold vehicle under the pretext of checking its engine.
“On Monday, the guy came to my outlet around 4pm. He met my junior staff and came in with a bag as a customer. He asked for the 2025 Toyota Tundra pickup, which costs around N130m, and demanded the key to check it. He dropped his bag inside it, and the staff watched him start the engine, thinking he only wanted to check it. But the man engaged the gear and drove off,” Edmund said.
He said the vehicle’s doors locked automatically when the suspect engaged the gear, after which he drove towards the VGC Bridge.
Edmund said his staff member pursued the vehicle but struggled to convince passers-by that the man behind the wheel was not the owner.
He alleged that the suspect drove through a residential estate in Ajah, damaged a barricade at the entrance and continued towards Chevron and Ebeano before heading to Ajiran.
"On getting to Ajiran, he could not find his way again. He realised he had driven to the end of the road, and when he could not proceed, he drove over the canal until the vehicle landed in it. That was when some boys dragged him out,” the dealer said.
Edmund said the thief damaged the pickup and a barricade at the VGC entrance while fleeing with the car.
Edmund added that he paid for repairs of the barricade and incurred expenses on the treatment of the people injured by the thief, as well as the thief's feeding and other related costs.
The dealer said he also paid for the thief's medical treatment following the crash, adding that the man was not kept in a cell because of the injuries he sustained.
According to Edmund, the case was initially reported at the Ajah Police Division before being transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba, where two women who identified themselves as the suspect’s mother and sister visited him.
He said the women claimed to be from Agbor, Delta State, adding that he became concerned about recovering his expenses after learning that the suspect had been released on bail.
Edmund alleged that he was pressured to withdraw the case after investigators established that the suspect had a psychiatric condition.
“I am already suspecting foul play in the police dealings because I was hurried to close the case when the man was confirmed to be a psychiatric patient. Just yesterday evening, he had been released on bail.
“For somebody who caused me such heavy damage, how am I going to bear these losses alone, knowing that the culprit has been released? Somebody attempted to steal a car from my outlet. It is sad,” he said.
The spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, SP Abimbola Adebisi, denied the allegation that the police had improperly released the suspect, the publication reports.
Adebisi told Punch the suspect had been certified as a psychiatric patient by recognised government hospitals and competent courts, adding that the dealer withdrew the case after the information emerged during the investigation.
“The suspect is a psychiatric case, certified by recognised government hospitals and competent courts.
“All these were well known by the complainant in the course of our investigation. This prompted him to submit a withdrawal letter, whereupon the suspect was handed over to his mother for rehabilitation,” she said in a WhatsApp message to a Punch correspondent.
However, the police spokesperson did not provide the documents requested by the correspondent to substantiate the alleged medical certification and withdrawal of the complaint, per the publication.
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