Oyo: Police recover stolen Lexus, arrest two suspects in cross-border syndicate
The Oyo State Police Command has intercepted a stolen Lexus RX 350 SUV allegedly being transported out of Nigeria for sale abroad, leading to the arrest of two suspects and the recovery of valuables taken during the armed robbery in Kwara State.
The development was disclosed in a statement issued on Wednesday by the command’s Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ayanlade Olayinka, who said the arrests followed an intelligence-led operation by the Violent Crime Response Unit.
The operation was launched after the Kwara State Police Command alerted its Oyo counterpart on August 24 about the theft of the 2017-model Lexus SUV from a woman at gunpoint at her residence in Ilorin.
According to the statement, the stolen vehicle was allegedly part of a wider operation by a transnational criminal network involved in stealing exotic vehicles in Nigeria and moving them across the country’s borders for sale in foreign countries.
The breakthrough reportedly followed information obtained from a suspect already in police custody over an armed robbery case. The suspect, who had been questioned after about 10 victims reportedly came forward, allegedly disclosed details of a syndicate involved in receiving and transporting stolen vehicles.
Police subsequently monitored his communications under controlled conditions, during which members of the alleged syndicate sent him photographs of a vehicle they were preparing to steal and instructed him to arrange its reception and movement across the border.
Acting on the information, the Commissioner of Police directed the VCRU to establish a stop-and-search operation along the Ibadan–Ilorin Expressway.
At about 4am on Wednesday, operatives spotted the Lexus and attempted to stop it. The occupants allegedly abandoned the vehicle and fled into the bush, prompting a chase that resulted in the arrest of two suspects.
One of the suspects sustained a gunshot wound to his left foot during the operation.
The suspects were identified as Adewale Abiola, 33, and Kabiru Abobarin, 36, also known as “KB.”
Police said a search of the recovered vehicle led to the discovery of four HP laptops, an iPhone 15 Pro Max, seven wristwatches and jewellery, which were allegedly among the valuables stolen from the victim in Ilorin.
The command said preliminary interrogation showed that the suspects allegedly received the vehicle from members of the gang responsible for the Ilorin robbery and were taking it towards the border.
“They further disclosed that they were conveying the vehicle towards the border, where an ECOWAS document was to be obtained to facilitate its movement across the border for sale in a foreign country,” the statement said.
The command said the investigation had been expanded to identify other members of the alleged network and dismantle its wider operations.
The Commissioner of Police commended the VCRU operatives for acting on the intelligence and also praised the Kwara Command for sharing information that led to the recovery of the vehicle.
The Oyo Police Command said continued cooperation among state commands would be crucial to disrupting criminal networks operating across state and international borders.
