A Lagos property developer, Olakanmi Ogundele, has raised concern after a driver recently assigned to him, Olufemi Jogbodo, allegedly disappeared with his Gelly saloon car bearing registration number AGL586GW barely four days into the job.
Ogundele explained that Jogbodo, who initially introduced himself as Adeleye, was deployed to him by his company’s manager on November 18 to replace his ailing driver.
He said the new driver accompanied him on a work trip to Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, on the day he resumed and returned to Lagos with him on November 20.
He recounted that Jogbodo also drove him to the office on November 21 before fleeing with the vehicle while he was attending a meeting.
He said, “My driver was sick and I told my company to get me another driver because I was going to travel to Ijebu Ode.
“So, they got a driver on October 18, and we went to Ijebu Ode together and came back on October 20. Then, he took me to my office in Ikoyi. I was in a meeting in the office when he told the security that I sent him on an errand. The security could not come in to confirm with me because the meeting was still ongoing. That was how he went with the car and never came back.”
Ogundele said the incident was promptly reported to the tactical unit of the Ikoyi Police Division, which began tracing the suspect’s movements. However, he expressed frustration that there had been little progress in locating the fleeing driver.
According to a document shared with our correspondent, the suspect is 44 years old and was listed as a resident of Dele Ogunbowale Street in the Ikate area of Lagos.
The same document indicated that he operated 11 separate bank accounts.
Ogundele added that some of Jogbodo’s relatives were picked up during the investigation but were later released.
“We have arrested his wife’s sister and one of his cousins, but we have to release them because they have stayed more than the permissible period in detention.
“During our findings, we discovered that she had an aged mother who is about 75 years old and stays around Agbado Ijaiye, but we could not arrest her because of her age,” he disclosed.
He also confirmed that the manager who provided the driver had been detained and questioned over the lapse in verifying the suspect’s identity.
He said, “We arrested the manager and interrogated him. He said that because I was in a hurry to travel, he could not get the information he had provided before they gave it to me. The manager did not do his due diligence by confirming the identity and address of the driver.
“Everything he gave was fake. When he was employed, the name he gave us was Adeleye, whereas his real name is Olufemi.”
Ogundele revealed that plans were being made to place a bounty on the suspect to facilitate his arrest and recover the stolen vehicle.
Efforts to reach the state Police Public Relations Officer, Adebisi Abimbola, were unsuccessful as calls failed to connect, and a text message sent to her phone remained unanswered at press time.