Mudiaga Affe, Calabar

THE Cross River State Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps has handed over two Toyota Highlander Sport Utility Vehicles it recovered from suspected criminals to the state Special Anti-Robbery Squad.

The Deputy Corps Commander in charge of operations, Mr. Lucky Ugenlo, said the cars were recovered when the suspects brought the vehicles to the command’s National Vehicle Identification Scheme centre for re-registration.

Ugenlo told Southern City News on Saturday that the vehicles were originally registered with the current registration number, which had security and stealing-proof facilities.

He pointed out that investigation had revealed that one of the SUVs was stolen at gunpoint in Ibadan and taken to Sokoto for sale.

Ugenlo said, “One of the jeeps (SUVs) was stolen from Ibadan and taken to Sokoto for sale. The car was advertised in a car stand and a customer from Calabar saw it and went to Sokoto to buy it after the original number plate was removed.

“In the process of coming to re-register the vehicle, the system picked on it that this vehicle has been registered before and the desk officer contacted us and we immediately brought the vehicle to our office, contacted the police and handed it over to them.

 “The second Highlander was stolen in Aba and sold in same Aba. Then, someone now travelled to Calabar and bought the same stolen vehicle and brought it down here. In the process of re-registering the vehicle, we discovered that the vehicle was also a stolen one.”

He explained that the suspects had been handed over to SARS for further investigation with a view to returning the vehicles to their rightful owners after a thorough investigations.

Ugenlo advised members of the public with new vehicles to always register them with the new number plate for security reason.

“Assuming the two Highlander Jeeps were carrying fake and old number plates, the suspects would have successfully registered the vehicles.

“It is advisable for everyone to get the new number plate because the registration completes the circle and automatically that vehicle cannot be registered again in Nigeria,” he added.

The police spokesperson in the state, Irene Ugbo, confirmed that the vehicles were handed over to the police by the FRSC for further investigation.

She said, “The vehicles were stolen and brought to Calabar. The FRSC recovered the vehicles and brought them to us.”

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