{Photo} I stole to help my friend treat kidney failure - 55-yr -old

A 55-year-old transporter, identified as Alhaji Ramon Adeleke, who was recently arrested by operatives of Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, has said he went into robbery to save the life of his friend who has kidney failure.



The father of four, who was caught alongside his friend, Lukmon Shoyoye on closed-circuit television, CCTV, footage stealing a Toyota Corolla parked in a hotel located around Allen Avenue, told Vanguard:

 I live in Obilegun Street in Iba, Lagos and married with four children. I am a landlord in Lagos.My friend and I went to Airport Hotel at night and at dawn, we stole a Toyota Corolla 2003 model, parked in the hotel. While we were stealing the vehicle, I did not know that the CCTV captured us.“I took the car to Alhaji who bought it for N400, 000. I gave the money to my friend Chief Kola, who had kidney problem because he was very sick. I gave Lukmon, who went to the operation with me, N80,000.”

It was gathered that the duo committed the crime on November 16, 2014. Adeleke was arrested on April 9, 2015, while on his way to a mosque around Allen Avenue. Adeleke’s arrest led to Shoyoye’s.
Vanguard learned that Ramon Adeleke was apprehended and charged to court in March 2015 for a similar crime, but was granted bail before he was re-arrested.Alhaji Adeleke, a native of Ede in Osun State, said:

 In his defence, 38-year-old Lukmon Shoyoye, told Vanguard:

“I have known Ramon for several years. We met when he came to fix the glass of his commercial vehicle. Sometime around November 2014, Ramon called me on phone and said he wanted to see me.
“When we met, he said he wants me to escort him. He told me he wants to seize the vehicle of a friend who owed him but refused to pay. I neither planned nor discussed the operation with him.We drove to Allen at about 12 midnight. I became suspicious of his mission when he stole a car that was parked in the hotel. It was Ramon that forced the door of the vehicle open.It was when we left the scene that it occurred to me that he actually stole a car. I drove my four-runner Jeep, while he drove the stolen vehicle. He went alone to Ile-Epo to sell the vehicle.I do not know for how much he sold the car, but he gave me N80,000 which I used to pay my children’s school fees. I was arrested after Ramon was arrested.“I am from Abeokuta in Ogun State and married with six children. I am an aluminium fabricator.”

Vanguard gathered that the stolen Toyota Corolla had been recovered, while both suspects will soon be charged to court.