By Chioma Okezie-Okeh
A A professional driver, Harrison Samuel was well dressed and with a long list of sureties when he walked into a recruitment agency in the Lekki area of Lagos looking for a job.
He smiled shyly when told the same day that a wealthy woman needed a driver and the salary would be 60,000 naira per month. Unknown to the recruiting agency and the employer, 46-year-old Harrison was not interested in the job, but to steal the vehicle.
After confirming contacts from his sureties, which were later confirmed to have been arranged by his accomplices, Harrison was told to return to work immediately. He immediately argued with his female employer and tricked her into thinking he was sent by God. Within three hours of picking up, he took advantage of every opportunity when the woman quit to get groceries and fled to Ogun. Luckily, his latest victim simply identified as Janet alerted the police and officers from the Lagos Police Command Special Squad tracked him down and arrested him.
Confirming her arrest, state command spokesman Benjamin Hundeyin, a superintendent of police, said Saturday Sunday that on July 7, 2022, a Janet reported to police commissioner Sylvester Alabi that the driver servant she employed the same day had fled with his Toyota Venza. , two iphones, an Apple laptop, a passport and other valuables.
He said: ‘Upon receipt officers from the Police Commissioner, Special Squad (CPSS) were assigned to investigate. Through the collection of tactical intelligence, they were able to arrest the suspect on July 23 in the Isolo area of Lagos where he was taking refuge and the stolen vehicle was later recovered from him. It was revealed that his accomplice known as Jerry who planned the act with him got away with the victim’s iPhone, laptop, passport and other valuables. He will be brought to justice while officers have stepped up their efforts to find his accomplice.
During his arrest, a police source explained that the suspect called his employer and demanded N200,000 in exchange for the SUV (Sport Utility Vehicle). He was still negotiating with the victim when officers found him and had him arrested. He allegedly sold all valuables found in the car and was negotiating with a buyer when he was arrested.
The story of my life
Tearfully and begging for mercy, Harrison blamed the devil for reminding him that he could make a quick buck selling the car. “I am Samuel Harrison from Ogoja in Cross River. I am married and have three children. I moved to Lagos in 2017. My family is based in the village. I am a professional driver and the last job I did was for a family in Imo state that I served for 11 years. The man died so I lost the job. I moved to the village to do farming but was not earning enough to support my family so I moved to Lagos and stayed with a friend known as Jerry. Jerry is also from my village and we were childhood friends. I was at work until July, went to a recruitment agency in Ikota complex in Lekki and applied for a job. The owner of the agency was delighted and said there was a woman who urgently needed a driver and he wanted an elderly person.
“I was employed to work for the woman who lives in Victoria Gardens City in Lagos and was to be paid N60,000 per month. I went to her house and she tested my driving skills and was impressed. She asked me to pick up the same day and drive her to Lekki. It was raining that day and she asked me to drive her to a shopping complex to buy something. As soon as she left me, I decided to run away with the SUV. I believe it is the devil who has taken hold of my mind since the woman is very rich. I called my friend Jerry and he asked me to bring the car, which he would find a buyer in Agbara area of Ogun state.
“That’s where I parked the car and burglars broke the window and stole all his valuables. They took his phone and his computer. I didn’t sell them,” a- he recounted.
Insisting that it was not him who had called to extort money from the victim, Harrison alleged that it was Jerry. “I’m not heartless like that. It’s punishment enough that I stole his car and all his valuables. It was Jerry who asked me to give him the woman’s phone number. I don’t know what he wanted to do with it. It was at the police station that I learned that he had threatened the woman and demanded 200,000 naira.
“I am so ashamed of myself and I beg Mrs. Janet to forgive me. I have three children and a wife at home. I was so desperate to change their lives and move them to Lagos to stay with Look what I did to myself I didn’t sell the car I didn’t get paid and I’m about to go to jail I’m so sorry heaven knows that is the first time I’ve tried this kind of thing,” he said in tears.
