Daniel Oguntade, was arraigned for trying to divert the company’s vehicle, a Toyota Hiace, 2014 model, with number plate EKY 463 DM to Ogun State, with the intention of selling it. However, he was arrested by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), alongside an alleged accomplice.
Upon interrogation, Mr Oguntade, alleged that he was hypnotised by his pastor to commit the crime after being directed to pick up a client at the airport and then drop N150,000 (£513) with another client. Apprehension, however, set in when he did not return at 8pm as expected, with the visiting client stranded at the airport and efforts to reach him proved abortive as he ignored several calls to his phone.
When news of the development reached the Lagos State police commissioner Fatai Owoseni, he directed the RSS commander Olatunji Disu, to unearth the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the driver and the company’s vehicle. With the collaboration of policemen at the Sango Area Command in Ogun State, the car was said to have been traced to Ifo, where the driver and a man, later discovered to be an electrician, were caught trying to disconnect the tracking device on the car.
Mr Oguntade said: “I had no intention of diverting the vehicle and my pastor talked me into doing it. I have been working for the company for three years without any soiled record and my salary is N60,000 (£205).
“I suspect I was hypnotised by my pastor because while I was on the Third Mainland Bridge at 11.30am, heading for the airport, I received two calls, one from my dad, informing me that my mother was sick and the other from my pastor, ordering me to report immediately at the church located at Adiyan, Ogun State. As if propelled by forces beyond me, I proceeded to the church in the company’s vehicle and on arrival, my pastor told me to drop the hampers in the church, even when I told him that my boss directed me to give them to some clients."
According to Mr Oguntade, a church member, Oyetade Ade, accompanied him to the fuel station to fill the tank but to his surprise, the car refused to start while at the fuel station. When he then called his pastor to inform him about the development, he said the clergyman instructed him to tell his boss that the vehicle had been snatched by robbers, including the hampers and cash.
"I could not pick my calls when my boss called and when I eventually picked it, I could not talk. I never knew the vehicle had a tracking device as I thought it had an electrical fault that was why I called an electrician to repair it but to my surprise, the RRS men swoop on us,” Mr Oguntade added.
Police sources said that when invited, that the pastor denied Me Oguntade’s claims associating him with the crime. Yesterday, the suspects were transferred to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad.
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