Lagos Car Dealer, Police Clash Over Suspect’s Release
By Sherif Salau
A Lagos car dealer is locked in a bitter dispute with the state police command after officers released a man suspected of attempting to steal a luxury pickup truck from his showroom, leaving the businessman with what he describes as crushing financial losses and unanswered questions about how the case was handled.
Chima Edmund, who runs Mayor and Sheiks Autos in the Victoria Garden City area of Lekki, said the drama began on Monday when a man posing as a prospective buyer requested a test drive of a 2025 Toyota Tundra valued at roughly N130 million. According to Edmund, the suspect took the vehicle, locked the doors, and drove off. The chase that followed ended when the truck crashed into a canal in Ajiran. The vehicle was later recovered, but not before sustaining significant damage that Edmund estimates has cost him about N40 million in losses.
What has angered the dealer more than the theft attempt itself is the subsequent handling of the suspect. Edmund alleges that police investigators later informed him the man had a documented psychiatric condition. He claims he was then pressured to withdraw the complaint, after which the suspect was released on bail and handed over to relatives. “I am already suspecting foul play in the police dealings because I was hurried to close the case when the man was confirmed to be a psychiatric patient,” Edmund said. “Just yesterday evening, he had been released on bail. For somebody who caused me such heavy damage, how am I going to bear these losses alone?”
The Lagos State Police Command has firmly rejected any suggestion of improper conduct. Spokesperson SP Abimbola Adebisi stated that the suspect had been certified as a psychiatric patient by recognised government hospitals and competent courts. She said this information emerged during the investigation and was known to the complainant. According to Adebisi, Edmund subsequently submitted a formal letter withdrawing the case, after which the suspect was released into the custody of his mother, who had travelled from Agbor in Delta State, for rehabilitation.
The competing accounts have left the matter in a familiar grey zone of Nigerian criminal justice: a serious alleged offence, a suspect with mental health issues, a complainant left nursing substantial losses, and police insisting they followed due process. Edmund maintains he was rushed into abandoning the case and is now left shouldering the financial consequences alone. The police maintain that once a complainant withdraws and medical and judicial records confirm the suspect’s condition, continued detention becomes problematic.
The incident has also drawn attention to the practical risks faced by car dealers in Lagos, particularly those dealing in high-value vehicles. Test drives and customer access to keys create opportunities for theft or joyrides that can end in expensive damage. For Edmund, the issue is no longer simply the recovery of a damaged truck but whether the justice system adequately protects business owners when suspects are later found to have mental health challenges.
As things stand, the suspect is free and in the care of his family. The dealer is counting his losses and questioning the process that led to the release. The police say they acted on medical certification, court records, and the complainant’s own withdrawal. Between those positions lies a dispute that has left one businessman feeling abandoned and a wider public once again debating how the system balances accountability, mental health considerations, and the rights of victims.
