5 arrested for diverting container worth N50 million

Operatives of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS), Lagos State Command, have arrested a five-man armed robbery gang they said specialized in the diversion of cargoes from the seaport.

Those arrested were identified as Igwe Nchoeu, 48; Moses Eghaghe, 51; Suleman Aremu, 65; Obinna Abiodun, 40; and Samuel Ogujiofor, 34.

Daily Trust learnt their arrest was sequel to a complaint lodged at the Command Headquarters about the gang’s activities. The police said that on July 25, 2018, the Intelligence Unit received information that an unspecified number of airconditioners believed to be stolen from its owner were being off-loaded into a warehouse at the Iyana-Ira area of Lagos State.

But the truck driver, Samuel Ogujiofor, said the gang leaders deceived him into conveying the consignment from Apapa to Ojo and paid him the sum of N150,000 for the job. He was actually in Lagos to deliver some consignments at Ikorodu, he said, but decided to do a brisk business with this one that had turned sour for him.

“I was waiting for the consignment I brought to Lagos from Onitsha to be offloaded when Francis approached me to help carry air conditioners to Ojo from Apapa. Not suspecting anything, I agreed to do the job. Francis promised to pay me N150,000. I drove to Apapa to load my truck with their consignment and from there, we headed to somewhere in Ojo where the goods were offloaded into a warehouse. I was surprised when the me,” he said.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Imohimi Edgal, who paraded the suspects before newsmen on Monday, said that FSARS Operatives located the warehouse and the suspects were arrested. “The warehouse where the air-conditioners were kept was immediately searched and a total of 238 pieces of Royal air-conditioner products were recovered.

“During interrogation, they confessed that they stole the goods and mentioned one Francis as their ring leader and the owner of the truck used in conveying the stolen items. In the course of investigation, the operatives went to Sango-Ota and recovered the said vehicle, a Mack truck, unregistered, where it was parked for sale,” he said. police arrested