SAGAMU, Nigeria – A hotelier identified as Paul Niwa and his accomplice, Michael Odunayo, have been arrested by the Ogun State Police Command for their alleged involvement in stealing a vehicle and running a chop shop operation.
The hotelier, 47-year-old Niwa, was apprehended alongside 27-year-old Odunayo after a stolen bus was found butchered into pieces at Niwa’s hotel, A@Z, in Elediye village, Sagamu.
The arrest came after a report was filed at the Ewu-Oliwo Police Division in Sagamu on Friday, April 21, 2023, by Anifowose Kazeem, a driver for A&G Logistics Transport Company.
Kazeem had parked his T4 Volkswagen bus, with registration number AAB 22 XB, by the roadside at Sagamu Interchange due to a mechanical fault. When he returned the following morning, the bus had disappeared.
Abimbola Oyeyemi, the spokesperson of the Ogun State Police Command, stated that the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Ewu-Oliwo Division, CSP Toyosi Bello, directed officers to investigate the theft.
The missing bus was traced to Niwa’s hotel, where it had been disassembled for sale as parts.
Upon his arrest, Niwa’s detention led to the apprehension of the second suspect, Michael Odunayo.
According to the police, Odunayo confessed that he and another suspect, Eri Adeyemi, who is still at large, towed the vehicle away at 2 am and sold it to Niwa for N300,000. Niwa allegedly has a history of buying stolen vehicles.
Oyeyemi revealed that “Preliminary investigation showed that Paul Niwa is a serial receiver of stolen vehicles, which he used to dismantle and sell in pieces.”
The acting Commissioner of Police, DCP Babakura Muhammed, has ordered the immediate transfer of the suspects to the State Criminal Investigation Departments for further investigation.
