CRIME Bandits kill Dangote conductors, divert cement truck in Rivers
Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Zaki, said a Dangote truck loaded with cement was hijacked by four armed men dressed in police uniform and diverted to the Ada George axis of Port Harcourt city.
Parading the suspects, as well as a cache of arms recovered from them before journalists in Port Harcourt yesterday, the CP said the armed men hijacked the truck along Elele Road, took both the driver and two conductors into the bush and shot them. The conductors died but the driver sustained bullet wounds.
Speaking further, he said the suspects were arrested after a tip off at a compound in the Ada George axis of Port Harcourt where the consignments were being offloaded.
One of the suspects, who gave his name as Peter, said he was in his house when a friend (Obinna) contacted him to use his compound to off-load cement.
He said he accepted to assist the friend without knowing that the truck was stolen. However, he denied knowing about the deaths of the conductors saying that his friend only asked him to offer assistance.
Another suspect, Godwin Ebeobor, who drove the truck, said: “On the 19th of last month, my friend called Obinna asked me to come to Elele to assist him drive a truck from Elele to Port Harcourt. He took me in his car to the place where the truck was packed in Elele.
“When I got there I did not see the driver of the truck and when I asked about the driver he said the driver was sick. It was at that point that I accepted to drive the truck. I drove to Ada George where the cement was offloaded.
“As they were off-loading the truck, police came in and arrested us. I took them to Obinna’s house and when we got there, Obinna was not at home. His wife was arrested and released two weeks later. I didn’t know how they killed the conductors. I only assisted them in driving the truck,” he said.