Robbery Syndicate Diverts N25m Worth Of Milk, Nabbed By Police

CHUKA UBAH

Police operatives from the Lagos State Police Command have arrested three members of a robbery syndicate for allegedly diverting goods worth N25m from Lagos enroute Abuja which were later recovered in Aba, Abia State

P.M.EXPRESS reports that the truck loaded with milk was being taken to Abuja but was diverted to Aba, Abia State, where some of the consignment was sold. However, the police have recovered 60 percent of the stolen goods.

The suspects, Sunday Ejike, 52, James Oja, 47, and Adesoji Olanrewaju, were arrested by the operatives from the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Panti, Yaba.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, CP Zubairu Muazu, who paraded the suspects at Command Headquarters, Ikeja, said the goods were recovered in Aba, Abia State.

He said, “The Command’s Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, arrested three suspects known for diverting and stealing the company’s goods. On May 13, 2019, we received a petition from Kobo Logistics Limited, that on May 3, the company employed the services of Olanrewaju John to transport 30 tons of powder milk FMCG, Lagos to Abuja (FCT), but he diverted the goods to an unknown destination.
“Three suspects, Adesoji Olanrewaju, 43, Sunday Ejike 52 and James Oja, 47, were arrested in connection with the case. Part of the stolen good was recovered at Aba, Abia State.”
He said one of the suspects, Sunday, has been on the police wanted list for allegedly stealing tyres worth millions of Naira.
The suspect, Sunday, in an interview said, “I am not a criminal. I was not the person who diverted the goods. I sold tyres to a customer who travelled with his truck to the east. I sold to him on credit, so when I also travelled to the east and I called my customer that I was in the east and that he should pay me my money; he said I should meet him in a hotel. When I met him, he said I should wait until the following day, so I slept over. It was while I was waiting for him that the police came to the hotel and arrested us.

“For the tyres the police claimed that I stole, I did not steal any tyre. My customer who is on the run sold the tyres to me, I paid him and he gave me receipts. It was N12 million. I knew that I made a mistake; I would not have visited my customer in the hotel, but that does not make me a thief.
Oja who contradicted Sunday said, “I called Sunday to come and help me sell some used tyres because the owner of the truck contracted me to help him sell some tyres. We sold the tyres. Sunday should not deny that we sold tyres and that we were planning on what to do with the milk when the police came and arrested us”.