Vehicle belonging to judge taken from parking area near Abia courthouse

A Chief Magistrate's Toyota Corolla was stolen from outside the court premises on Finbarrs Road in Umuahia, Abia State, where it had been parked earlier that day.

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The vehicle belonged to Chief Magistrate Mrs Ngozi Pearl Lekwa of Court 2, Umuahia, who had parked the black Toyota Corolla at around 9am before heading to her office for work.

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When she stepped out of the court premises shortly after noon, she discovered that her vehicle was no longer there, prompting her to investigate further.

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A friend informed her that she had seen the vehicle being driven away at high speed towards the Bende Road axis, but had assumed the driver was acting on the owner's instructions and did not raise an alarm.

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According to Chief Magistrate Lekwa, her friend had found the speed of the vehicle unusual, but did not think it suspicious at the time, assuming the driver had been sent on an errand.

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Chief Magistrate Lekwa stated that she had not given anyone permission to use her vehicle and still had the car key in her possession when she discovered it was missing.

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She had ordered steering locks for her vehicles just a day earlier, but only one had been delivered, and the second one, intended for the stolen car, had not arrived before the incident occurred.

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The stolen vehicle is a black Toyota Corolla with registration number AA 579 NBB, engine number 2565542, and chassis number JTDR22E1D0247899.

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The incident has been reported to the police, who are now investigating the matter.

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Police Public Relations Officer of the Abia State Police Command, DSP Maureen Chinaka, confirmed the incident and urged the public to provide any useful information that could help recover the stolen vehicle.