SCARY BUT REAL: “If a young guy buys a car, they install trackers and sell it to him, wait for some days and bust the guy, retrieve the car and arrest him while tagging him a yahoo boy. The car is then returned to the car dealer and the dealer gives EFCC their own share”
Culled from X
On the 16th of December 25, I discovered a deadly evil being perpetuated by citizens against fellow citizens. In the course of this story, I’ll make use of fictional names but real locations where they occured.
On that Tuesday morning, Olamide, a 25 year old boy came back to his apartment in Rumuigbo with his Toks Lexus RX 350, which he bought the previous week, and was celebrating with everyone. He had picked up the car from Apapa, Lagos, where he went with a mechanic whom he met on FB marketplace and drove down to see his people in Delta before proceeding to PH on that day. The car had been in his possession for over 7 days before he came to PH.
Let me give you a backstory on Olamide. He is an only son with 6 sisters and he is the 4th child. His father is in Quatar, working as a boat operator and his mother is a teacher in one of the government secondary schools in Delta state. Olamide is a waiter in one prominent place in Onne, hence the urge to get a car. His dad sent him the money for the car since the boy wasn’t patient enough for one to be shipped to him.
While we were celebrating, we heard gunshots outside the gate and almost immediately the gate flew wide open. Operatives of EFCC and NPF filled the compound and everyone was in panic mode. I sharply went inside and called the NAF base and Army barracks, sent my location and went outside. I was on pass so I had no official capacity to act, hence my silence. They told everyone to lie down, started rough handling everyone. Some started going door to door, pounding and shouting that everyone must come out. I tried talking to the one I sensed was the most senior and he shunned me. I didn’t argue or drag. They checked their tablet and kept pointing at the car, “oga na the car be this. Tracker no dey lie.” While they were at it, 4 vans filled with soldiers arrived, and 6 of them came into the compound. Upon seeing them, I got up immediately and told everyone on the floor to stand.
We started asking questions, and they said the car belonged to a yahoo boy and it was seized by the EFCC. They claimed the car was missing from their lot and they have been tracking it for over 4 months, so I had Olamide describe the vendor’s location and calls were made to Lagos, some soldiers and some members of the Lagos RRS stormed the place, picked up the seller and began interrogating him. That’s where things went dark.
The car seller has an active agreement with a handful from the EFCC. If a young guy buys a car, they install trackers and sell it to him, wait for some days and bust the guy, retrieve the car and arrest him while tagging him a yahoo boy. The car is then returned to the car dealer and the dealer gives EFCC their own share from the car sales proceeds. The mechanic is in on it also.
After all these exposé, I realized that we have a very long way to go as a country.
To the young men, do your research before you walk into any dealership to buy a car. Ask questions, swallow pride. That 24-48 hours of information gathering will save you a long time in prison.
-Anonymous from X
