Ojo Aloba, who is said to be the haulage driver conveying an armoured bullet-proof Range Rover purportedly owned by Senator Bukola Saraki, Nigeria’s senate president, has cried out.
Online news website, Saharareporters, reported Aloba confirmed he picked the jeep from Saraki’s Ikoyi home for onward delivery to him in Abuja, but was intercepted by Customs officials at Ore. Aloba said his truck had been seized and feared he might be abandoned by Saraki once the controversy over jeep is cleared. He alleged being similarly abandoned each time his truck was seized while conveying expensive automobiles for his influential clients, among who he named was Olu Obasanjo.
“One [customs] officer who wanted to help me bring my truck out is now scared because of the issue. My truck is there [seized by customs]. I don’t have any means to feed my family.
They are now asking me to bring N350, 000. But where will I find the money? As I am, I don’t even have 350 kobo,” said Aloba.
The report gave some details as allegedly stated by Aloba on the Saraki’s seized jeep.
“When I called the person who gave me the job (after Customs intercepted the jeep), he said I should not move from where I was, that Senator Saraki’s people [were] coming. He added:
“I could not wait because they were already cocking guns. I went with them, but before we got to Berger, there were already MOPOL [mobile police] waiting, but the customs officers leading me said they [could not] wait on the road.”
Saharareporters quoted Aloba as claiming the car was purchased from Lanre Shittu, a popular automobile dealer in Nigeria. It also claimed the auto dealer’s brother, Richard
“Richie” Shittu, is tied to Senator Saraki and allegedly “served as a middleman for Mr. Saraki, purchasing expensive automobiles for him and running other financial transactions for the senator as well.”
Moreover Aloba’s claim contradicted one by one Tokunbo Akindele, saying in an affidavit that he was the dealer who contracted the car, and not Saraki.
The controversial car was found to have forged Customs documents in a bid to avoid paying accurate duties on it.