“I didn’t steal the car, I only drove it from Abuja to Delta State” – Man who absconded with N55m Benz during test drive in Abuja speaks

Meshach Isinugo, the man who allegedly absconded with a N55 million Mercedes Benz SUV during a test drive in Abuja, has denied being a car thief.

Meshach is reported to have disguised himself as a prospective buyer and escaped with a Benz GLB 250 while test-driving the vehicle owned by a car dealer named Mohammed Manga in Abuja a few weeks ago.

He was apprehended by the Delta State Police Command, and the car valued at N55 million was recovered after being tracked down. The suspect allegedly abandoned the vehicle in a bush along Oteri Road in Ughelli North.

According to DSP Bright Edafe, the spokesperson for the command, Meshach specializes in stealing cars while posing as a potential buyer.

However, in an interview with the Nigerian Tribune, Meshach denied being a car thief. He claimed that he only drove the car to Delta State without the owner’s knowledge.

Meshach stated that he decided to drive the car when the dealer, who was sitting in the passenger seat during the test drive, took longer than expected to return after going to get cash to buy fuel at a filling station.

The suspect claimed that the day after he arrived in Delta, the car dealer angered him by posting his picture on the internet and accusing him of being a car thief. The dealer also threatened that the police were after him.

Meshach alleged that the dealer’s actions prompted him to switch off his phone to make himself unreachable.

“I’m from Ughelli in Delta State, but I live in Abuja. I’m into foreign exchange and bureau de change business. I have been doing this for seven years. I started along that line when I was in secondary school. My business is at Istanbul Airport, Turkey, so I used to shuttle between there and Nigeria. I started it there in 2021. I returned from Instabul in May after the general elections.

“I was arrested on July 6 for car theft after I was tracked by the police. Actually, I moved the car from Abuja to Delta State.

“I didn’t steal the car, but it was not mine. What happened was that I got the owner’s contact from an online platform. He posted the car’s picture on the platform, putting it up for sale. When I called him to indicate an interest, he told me to come for the car inspection. He was also Abuja-based and the location he invited me to was at Garki.

“I saw the car, and the intending seller put the price at N58 million. I offered to pay N30 million and he said I should test-drive it so that I would know the value of what I was pricing. He gave me the car key and sat on the passenger seat

“When we got to a filling station, he asked me to pull over as he needed to buy fuel for the car. He told me to wait so that he would go and get some cash to buy the fuel. I waited for his return for three hours but he was nowhere to be found, and I was already causing a queue at the filling station.

I called his line several times but it was switched off. It was already dusk so I drove to my residence at almost 8pm. My phone had gone flat then, so I charged it when I got home and called him again. His line was switched off.

“The following day, I drove down to Delta for business. That same day, I saw my picture that he posted on the internet, calling me a car thief. His call also came in and he told me he had informed the police and they were tracking the car. This made me mad at him. It was crazy. I switched off my line known to him and started using my other line.

“My uncle saw me with the car and he asked me about it. I told him how the car came by and he got mad and slapped me. He said he would not allow me to drive the car but would report it at a police station

“I ran from him because he assaulted me. I was eventually arrested in Benin, Edo State. I didn’t steal the car, I only drove it from Abuja to Delta. If I were the car dealer, I would just look for a way to get the car back. That would work,” he said.