On a 2005 edition of Mitsubishi Pajero parked on the premises
of the Lagos Police Command in Ikeja, was a church sticker
bearing the picture of a 32-year-old Presbyterian pastor from
Umuahia, Abia State, Rev. Titus Onwuchekwa.
In bold letters beside the pastor’s photo on the sticker are the
words “Too blessed to be cursed”.
True to those words, Rev. Onwuchekwa, who was paraded
alongside two notorious stolen car dealers by the police
explained that he thought God had brought a blessing his
way, when he bought the stolen SUV for a mere N350,000.
How did this happen?
Onwuchekwa was paraded with the car dealers, 32-year-old
Felix Osas, who sold the vehicle and 32-year-old Ndibe
Samuel, an accomplice.
A used 2005 edition of Mitsubishi Pajero is sold for between
N1.4m and N1.8m but when Osas presented himself as the
seller, he told Rev. Onwuchekwa that he could give up the
vehicle for N500,000.
Rev. Onwuchekwa, who is popularly called ‘My father, my
father’ in his church circles in Umuahia, said he had come to
Lagos to attend a Christian programme when he sighted the
2005 Mitsubishi Pajero in Alaba area of Ojo, Lagos and he
dialled the number of the seller pasted on the car.
“He gave me the price of N500,000 but I told him that I could
only afford N350,000 and after we haggled a little, he agreed
to sell the car. He said he would sow the car as a seed into
my life for that amount provided I pray for him regularly .
“He said he needed regular prayers and I paid him N350,000
with a promise that anytime he needed prayer, he could call
me and I would always pray for him.”
Asked if the cheap price of the vehicle did not raise his
suspicion during the transaction, Rev. Onwuchekwa said he
believed it was indeed a blessing that had come his way.
“I even went home to share the testimony of how I bought the
vehicle ,” the pastor said.
What about the vehicle particulars and the Customs papers
presented to him, he said they all bore the names of Osas,
which was what doused every suspicion he had.
But these are not enough to exonerate Rev. Onwuchekwa who
continued to maintain his innocence.
Osas explained that few weeks after Rev Onwuchekwa bought
the Pajero, he contacted him again and asked to buy a 2001
Toyota Camry for N250,000, a vehicle which under a normal
circumstance, he would have sold for at least N900,000.
This proved to be the nail on the coffin for Rev. Onwuchekwa
as the police said he must have known he was buying a
stolen vehicle if he did not mind coming back for a second
car despite the suspicious price of the vehicles.
Osas, who runs Happy Home Motors, was all smiles as he
narrated how Rev. Onwuchekwa fell victim of his criminal
trade .
“I don’t think he actually knew that he was buying a stolen
vehicle. If he did not come back for more, the police would
not have arrested him along with us . I don’t steal these
vehicles myself.
“In fact, I don’t knew where they came from. I got them from
one of my friends, who told me to re-register them in my
name. When I asked him where he got them, he confided in
me that they were stolen.
“I bought the Pajero I sold to the Pastor for N300,000. I have
only bought two vehicles from him before. I also bought the
Camry from my friend for N300,000. It is the same one the
pastor wanted to buy for N250,000.”
Osas said he had been selling vehicles for seven years after
he realised that his initial business as a mechanic was not
yielding profit as he wanted.
He did not show remorse as he explained that it was the
business he had been using to feed his family.
Lagos Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, said both
Pastor and Osas would be charged to court.