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Nigerian startup LegitCar has launched a database of all missing cars in Nigeria, allowing car buyers to ensure the car they are about to purchase is not listed as stolen.

LegitCar, which had been under development since September last year, charges car buyers a small fee to search the database. If a match is made, they can view the information of the original owner and claim a cash reward if they help reunite the owner with the car.

“Everyday people’s cars go missing, here in Nigeria and elsewhere in the world. These cars are forcefully taken away from people at gunpoint or they just disappear from the parking lots. Our solution was developed to prevent this resale from happening,” said Vincent Okeke, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of LegitCar.

“We sincerely believe that if we make it impossible for stolen cars to be resold, with time we will be making that line of business unattractive for thieves, and as such make our world a little bit safer.”

The startup’s database is still in its infancy, but it is in talks with partners for data on some 5,000 missing vehicles. Currently still self-funded, Okeke said LegitCar had attracted “considerable interest” from investors and was studying some offers.

“Since we launched our demo in September, we have learnt a lot and improved on our services further. Our short term and long term goals are a couple of services which we will introduce around our core services. This will ensure the continuous growth of the business,” he said.

“Due to the scalability of what we do, we will expand into a few other countries in the next couple of years.”

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