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The leader of a gang which allegedly specialised in hijacking trucks conveying valuable goods to specified destination, Moses Olatunji Isaac, has claimed that he was only involved in diverting such trucks from their destinations for personal gains, 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, it was learnt.
Briefing journalists on the achievements of the command with the arrest of many suspected criminals at the weekend, 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 gathered 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 along Ibadan/Lagos expressway, CP Hamzat disclosed.
Also arrested was Olapade 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, it was further learnt.
Further investigations later led to the arrest of another suspected member of the criminal gang identified as Lawal Adesina 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, Nigerian Tribune learnt that he had once been arrested for the same crime and 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, but he has done 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 about logistics and haulage business. We talked on how we would get goods from Lagos to steal. He lives in Lagos and drives 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 hire trucks to convey their goods to their various destinations, and the driver knew those who would give out the jobs. So, when he loaded the truck, we conspired to divert the goods.
“The rolls of 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 rolls 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 look at the rugs. We went to the warehouse and after seeing 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 Olapade, 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 without the knowledge of his boss 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 finds means of fulfilling the bail conditions. I was granted bail on August 12.
“What drew me close to 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 have.”
The second Teslim, aged 41, narrated his involvement thus: “I am a Cabstar 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, told the Nigerian Tribune that 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.
The police commissioner said investigations would continue in order to get more facts on the case. (Tribune)
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