A Lagos-based property developer, Olakanmi Ogundele, has raised the alarm after a driver newly assigned to him disappeared with his Gelly saloon car, barely four days after resuming duty.
Ogundele told SOJ WORLDWIDE on Sunday that the suspect, who falsely identified himself as Adeleye but was later discovered to be Olufemi Jogbodo, was deployed to him on November 18 after his former driver fell ill.
He said the driver accompanied him on a trip to Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, on the same day and returned with him to Lagos on November 20. Jogbodo reportedly also drove him to his office in Ikoyi the following morning before fleeing with the vehicle.
“My driver was sick and I asked my company to get me another driver because I needed to travel.
They brought this one on October 18. We travelled to Ijebu Ode together and came back on October 20. The next day, he took me to the office.
While I was in a meeting, he told the security guards that I sent him on an errand. The security could not interrupt the meeting to confirm.
That was how he drove off and never returned,” Ogundele recounted.
He said the matter was reported to the tactical team at the Ikoyi Police Division, who immediately began tracking the suspect. However, little progress has been recorded since the search began.
A document shared with our correspondent revealed that the suspect, aged 44, is a resident of Dele Ogunbowale Street, Ikate, and operates 11 different bank accounts.
Ogundele disclosed that in the course of tracking him, some of the suspect’s relatives, including his wife’s sister and a cousin, were arrested but later released after exceeding the lawful detention period.
The family’s elderly mother, aged 75, was identified but not detained due to her age.
He added that the company manager who sourced the driver was also arrested and interrogated.
“The manager said I was in a hurry to travel, so he did not verify the driver’s information.
Everything the suspect presented was fake. He even gave us a false name. His real name is Olufemi,” he said.
Ogundele further stated that plans were underway to place a bounty on the fugitive driver to aid his arrest and the recovery of the stolen car.
Efforts to reach the state Police Public Relations Officer, Adebisi Abimbola, proved abortive, as calls to her line went unanswered and a text message sent to her was not replied to as of press time.
This incident mirrors previous cases of car theft orchestrated by fake drivers in Lagos.
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