Three persons have been arrested by the police for allegedly diverting and stealing a 40-foot container containing $200,000 (about N39.4m) worth of drugs belonging to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The suspects are Emmanuel Onyike, 51, Alabi Daudu, 68, and Paul Aina, 58. About 500 cartons of the drugs were recovered from them.
Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) Zone II Onikan, Lagos Joseph Mbu said the suspects were nabbed following a June 15 petition by Bankole Michael.
Mbu said the complaint claimed that he gave the contract of transporting the drugs to Adeogo Transport logistics, represented by one Adeoye Shina. But the manager and the driver allegedly diverted the drugs to an unknown destination and disappeared instead of delivering them at the Society of Family Health (SFH) Warehouse in Sango-Ota, Ogun State.
Mbu said suspects were arrested by the Zonal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) operatives, who through intensive phone tracking and intelligence gathering got Onyike on July 18 at Ikorodu.
During interrogation, the suspects confessed and mentioned Paul and Alabi who were arrested on June 20 by X-Squad operatives.
Other members of the syndicate include Babawale, Ikechukwu, Shola and Alhaji. Onyike led the ZSARS team to a warehouse located at Igando where 500 cartons of the diverted drugs were recovered.
Onyike, an amputee said: “It was this Alabi and one Babawale still at large that lied to me that they wanted to carry batteries to somewhere and begged me to help find a vehicle that would convey the batteries. I trusted him (Babawale) not knowing that he had another thing in mind.
“When I confronted him to know why he lied to me, he told me that the driver he wanted to carry the batteries disappointed them. They said they had another thing to divert in the wharf and I helped them to contact one Alhaji who provided a truck for them. They promised to share the money according to how one participated, unfortunately the ZSARS operatives struck and arrested them while the gang member called Sesan who supposed to sell the diverted or stolen goods for them ran away when he heard that police had struck. It was Alabi and Babawale who changed the plate number of the truck to beat security checks on the road. This is the third time I participated in diversion work because I don’t see it as a crime because no application of force was involved.
“The first time I followed them, we diverted PVC chemical (which is used to produce plastic containers). The second one was diversion of juice which they told me was gotten from auction. We used to sell empty containers for between N120, 000 and N130,000 after selling the content.
Alabi, a father of six, said he helps armed robbers or car snatchers to sell stolen goods.
Aina said he is a supplier of petrol chemical product at Apapa.
He said: “I did not know that they were thieves. They told me to provide a driver for them. I called one driver named Ramoni but he stole battery from a nearby company and the gang rejected him so he would not spoil their plan to divert drugs. They did not give me a dime. This is my second time I followed them to do diverting work. The first one was diverting long pipes. When we were arrested, I spent six months in Kirikiri Prison. I swore that I would never follow them to rob or do diverting work again but hunger and financial constraint made me to listen to them. Alabi invited me and told me that they needed a good driver. When I found one, he started drinking to the point that he got drunk and they rejected him so I had to follow them so that they would not see me as the one that would spoil the work. They gave me N38,000 to look for another driver but I consumed the money. I had to follow them to cover up but we were unsuccessful because SARS operatives arrested us. Tell police to forgive me, I will not do it again.”
No comments:
Post a Comment