The leader of a gang which allegedly specialised in hijacking trucks conveying valuable goods to specified destination, Isaac (other names withheld), has claimed that he was only involved in diverting such trucks from their destinations for personal gains. He said he was not into hijacking.
The Monitoring Unit operatives of Oyo State Police Command, led by the Commander, CSP Olusola Aremu, arrested the suspect and two others.
Briefing journalists on the achievements of the command with the arrest of many suspected criminals recently, the Commissioner of Police, Adebola Hamzat, represented by the police spokesman, SP Adewale Osifeso, said that before the arrest of Isaac and others, the Monitoring Unit operatives had gathered intelligence on their activities. They were said to have been operating along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
The police commissioner stated that the information led to Isaac’s arrest at about 2am on September 28 at his hideout in Ring Road area of Ibadan.
“When interrogated, the suspect confessed to have masterminded series of such criminal activities along Ibadan/Lagos expressway and later led operatives of the Monitoring Unit to his syndicate’s hideout where 103 rolls of imported rugs valued about N550 million were recovered.”
“The suspect confessed that he concealed the rugs in the hideout after the trailer conveying them was hijacked from its driver at Ibadan/Lagos expressway’’ CP Hamzat disclosed.
Also arrested was Teslim who allegedly worked with Isaac to dispose of the 40-foot container from which the rugs were offloaded. The DAF truck was recovered by the police operatives
Further investigations later led to the arrest of another suspected member of the gang identified as Lawal, who was said to have allegedly provided fake vehicle documents to Isaac who claimed the truck was his own.
In an interview with 35-year-old Isaac from Saki, Saturday Tribune learnt that he had once been arrested for the same offence and was remanded in Abolongo Prison in Oyo town before he fulfilled his bail conditions and regained freedom. His case, according to him, is still in court. He has repeated, what he was initially remanded in prison for.
Isaac told the Nigerian Tribune: “I studied Political Science at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye. After I graduated, there was nothing for me to do so I started operating a machine just to have a stable income. Before I travelled to Dubai, I was managing a company. I went to Dubai and was there for five years before returning to Nigeria.”
“I was also into transportation and logistics. I had a truck that I bought myself. I was the one who asked the truck driver to divert the goods. We didn’t hijack it.”
Continuing, the suspect said: “I met the driver, Rilwan, when I was in Abolongo Prison. When we both came out, we met at a shopping mall in Ibadan. Even before meeting outside prison, we had exchanged numbers while in prison. So when we met, we discussed logistics and haulage business. We talked on how we would get goods from Lagos to steal. He lived in Lagos and drove heavy trucks, so I gave him my truck to get goods in Lagos and divert it.”
HOW WE WORKED
“At the port in Lagos, importers hired trucks to convey their goods to their various destinations. In his case, the driver knew those who would give out the jobs. So, when he loaded the truck, we conspired to divert the goods.”
“The rugs were imported and the driver loaded them at Wharf. After he did, he called me that everything was set. That was how we diverted the goods to a warehouse at Orita Challenge, Ibadan.”
“Before keeping the rug in the warehouse, we contacted its owner and got his permission. He asked for N300,000 as rental fee and we had paid him N100,000 remaining a balance of N200,000. We offloaded the rugs when it was dark.’’
HOW I WAS ARRESTED
“After we had kept the rugs at the warehouse, I began searching for a buyer and I met one man from Sabo. His name is Baruwa. He was the one who called another man, Tiamiyu. Tiamiyu told me he had a buyer who would come from Kano.”
“When the man came, Tiamiyu called me. He said that the buyer was in a hotel and I went there to discuss with him. The following day, he called me that we should go and see the rugs. We went to the warehouse and after he had seen the rugs, we returned to the hotel to discuss more. That was when the police arrested us.”
“It was about two months after the goods were diverted that we were arrested. The driver and I planned the diversion, but I don’t know his whereabouts now. After my arrest, I learnt that he had gone to Cotonou in Republic of Benin to evade arrest.”
“One of those arrested with me, Teslim, was the one who secured the container where we loaded the goods. He knew we stole the goods.”
WHY I WAS ONCE A PRISON INMATE
“A driver of a company called me that he wanted to steal some goods and said that I should help him get a buyer. We were going in the bus to offload some of the goods when Customs officials apprehended us. That was the only time I went to prison. It was in 2022.”
“I spent eight days before my siblings came together to find means of fulfilling the bail conditions. I was granted bail on August 12, 2023.”
“What drew me close to the driver was that in the prison, anyone released would be sent to other inmates’ families. That was how the driver also sent me when I was about to leave. So, after about eight weeks, we met at a shopping mall in Ibadan. Since I came out of prison, this is the first deal I had been involved in.”
The second suspect, Teslim, aged 41, narrated his involvement suspect, “I am a delivery driver. I don’t need to tell a lie. I knew the container was stolen and I helped Isaac to source for a buyer of the container.”
“I knew Moses at New Garage, Ibadan. He usually visited a mechanic around the area and that was where we met. I parked my Cabstar somewhere at the mechanic’s place and he came to me and we got talking. That was around March. He said he was broke and that I should find something for him. That was how we got talking and one thing led to the other. He told me he had a container he wanted to sell. He called me and I went to meet him where he was.”
“He informed me how he got the container and I connected him to a buyer. The buyer stays in Lagos. He bought it for N700,000 but Isaac had yet to give me my share as he told me that he used the money to pay warehouse rent fee and for other expenses. He was the one who brought the police to my house to arrest me.”
The third suspect, 51-year-old Lawal, who was crying as he spoke, said Isaac approached him to get number plates for the truck, which he did, as he made him to believe it was an unregistered vehicle.
It was learnt that Isaac had tampered with the vehicle’s chassis number to change it, so the vehicle was regarded as unregistered since the chassis was not in the records of the office from where Lawal got the number plates.
@ Nigerian Tribune Newspaper 
The police commissioner said investigations would continue in order to get more facts on the case.
