Delta State Commissioner of Police, Olufemi Abaniwonda, has ordered an investigation into the alleged theft of a vehicle in a church and its subsequent conversion into a patrol vehicle by a division of the command.
The vehicle was stolen in 2015 from one Ogoro Matthew, who resides in Warri and has been in the possession of the police.
While pleading for assistance to recover his vehicle, Matthew, in a video, said, “I went to a church programme on November 13, 2015. When we closed from the programme and I came out, I didn’t see my car again. I searched for it to no avail. So, I went to Ekpan Police station to report. They told me to ‘do’ papers indicating stolen vehicle. I printed the papers, gave them and even distributed them all over the place.
“After two years, I discovered the vehicle is with the police, Ekpan division. They converted my vehicle to their own use. They wrote Jakpa Raiders on it. Someone advised me to take the matter to court.
“On July 19, 2018, the High Court fined them to pay me N10 million. While I was waiting for them to pay me, they appealed against the judgment,” he said.
Wondering if the police were trying to claim ownership of his vehicle, he accused the police of oppressing him because he doesn’t have a helper. He added that since it was the vehicle he was using to eke a living, the theft has made feeding and paying for his house rent difficult.
Responding to the allegation, the spokesperson for the command, Bright Edafe, in a post on X, said the police commissioner has ordered an investigation into the matter.
“It happened a long time ago and almost all key actors in the matter have retired.
“However, injustice is injustice and that’s what the CP does not tolerate. It doesn’t matter how long it happened. The man has a valid case and it will be looked into as directed by the CP,” Edafe stated.
