BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
The Police in Osun State have arrested a 48-year-old man, Adejumo Olalekan, for allegedly driving away a school bus belonging to his employer.
Olalekan, a bus driver and employee of Criterion Nursery and Primary School, Kelebe, Osogbo, Osun State, allegedly drove the mini school bus in his custody to Lagos where he reportedly registered it in his name and used it for commercial purposes.
The father of five, when paraded at the Osun State Police Command headquarters in Osogbo recently, said that he committed the crime because the proprietor of the school failed to pay his two-month salaries.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Olawale Olokode, explained that the suspect was arrested in Lagos in possession of the stolen vehicle.
He said, “On June 8, at about 8:30am, the complainant (school proprietor) reported at the Dugbe Divisional Police Headquarters that he employed the service of one Adejumo Olalekan of Oke-Baale, area, Osogbo to drive his unregistered Suzuki mini bus and convey pupils of Criterion Nursery and Primary School located at Kelebe area, Osogbo to the school and their respective homes.
“On getting to his house one day, he discovered that the said driver had disappeared with the vehicle. On receipt of the complaint, the police navigated its investigation tentacles to Ajah area of Lagos State and apprehended the suspect with the exhibit. He had registered the vehicle in his own name and was using it for commercial purpose in Lagos State. The suspect will be charged to court after the completion of investigation.”
In an interview with The Point, the suspect confessed to the crime, claiming that his proprietor was owing him salaries for two months.
Olalekan said, “I woke up one day and decided to go to my boss. I collected the key to the school bus and drove it to Lagos. On getting to Lagos, officials of the Lagos State Transport Management Authority caught me because the school bus was not registered. They seized the bus and asked me to bring the sum of N20,000, as fine.
“I returned to Osogbo and fetched the money. After retrieving the vehicle, I started using it for commercial purpose in Lagos. The day I knew I had been caught was when I saw my elder brother, who stood as my guarantor as the school bus driver, in Lagos.
“The Police arrested me that day. The proprietor should pay me my two months salary; I have a wife and five children to cater for. I am really sorry for what I did. I don’t know what got into me.”
