A car dealer, Mohammed Manga, was left in disbelief after a car thief, who posed as a potential customer, stole a Mercedes Benz GLB 250 worth over N55 million during a test drive in Abuja.
The incident happened when Manga’s friend, who also sells cars, took the luxury vehicle to the thief, who introduced himself as Henry from Gwarinpa. Henry claimed that he had seen the car on an online marketplace and wanted to buy it.
After agreeing on the price of N55 million, Henry requested a test drive and was accompanied by Manga’s friend. They drove to a filling station opposite the automatic car wash in Garki to refuel the car before the test drive.
However, as soon as Manga’s friend stepped out of the car to withdraw money from a PoS operator to pay for the fuel, Henry seized the opportunity and sped off with the car, leaving Manga’s friend stranded.
Manga, who narrated the shocking event, said, “A friend of mine called me to tell me that he wanted to take my Mercedes Benz GLB 250 to a customer. He took the car to his office and the customer came there. He said the customer introduced himself as Henry from Gwarinpa and that he saw the car on an online marketplace.
“He saw the car and said he liked it; they negotiated N55 million for the car and he said OK and demanded test driving the car. He drove the car with my friend sitting on the passenger side of the vehicle and they drove out to the filling station opposite the automatic car wash in Garki to buy petrol before the test drive.
“But immediately my friend stepped out of the car at the filling station to withdraw money from the PoS operator to buy fuel, the guy zoomed off with the vehicle. You know how it is, there’s no traffic, no hold-up in Abuja and that’s how he absconded with the car.”
Manga reported the incident to the Anti-Car Theft Unit of the FCT Police Command, providing details of the stolen car: a grey Mercedes Benz GLB 250 with a mileage of 19,000.
Josephine Ameh, the FCT Police Public Relations Officer, confirmed the incident and stated that the police were on the trail of Henry.
“The police are tracking the suspect (Henry),” she said.
