Ogun police arrest three tricycle operators for stealing 300 bags of cement

Bankole Taiwo, Abeokuta

Ogun State police command said it has arrested three tricycle drivers; Lawal Bidemi AbdulRaheem, Olalekan Azeez and Opeloyeru Kayode for conspiring together to steal 300 bags of  cement from warehouse of  Sandtrust quarry company, Awa Ijebu, in Ijebu North local government area of the state.

Lawal, Olalekan and Opeloyeru were said to have been arrested after a staff of the quarry company who saw them perpetrating the crime lodged complaint against them at Awa Ijebu Divisional headquarters of the Nigeria Police.

According to statement from the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the state command, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi on Sunday, the staff of the quarry company told the police that he saw some people in a bush very close to the quarry loading cement into their tricycles and that he suspected that the goods must have been stolen from the warehouse of their company.

The statement reads that “upon the report, the DPO, Awa Ijebu division, Csp Adewalehinmi Joshua, mobilized his patrol team and moved to the scene. On sighting the policemen, the suspects took to their heels, but they were hotly chased, and three amongst them were apprehended.

“On interrogation, the three suspects confessed to have stolen the cements from the warehouse of Sandtrust quarry, and that they used their tricycles to convey it to the bush, from where they were taken it to the buyers in batches.

They were said to have allegedly confessed further that they have sold parts of the stolen cements to their customers before they were caught.

51 bags of cement were said to have been recovered from them in the bush, another 20 bags were recovered from one of the buyers, while the three tricycles they used for the operation were also impounded.

The suspects were  said to have been arrested on the 2nd of June 2021 but were granted administrative bail pending when the strike embarked upon by the judicial staff workers will be called off so as to arraign them in court.

The police however stated that a new twist was added to the event when the three suspects jumped bail and went ahead to accused the DPO of demanding bribe from them, and that their refusal to bribe him made the DPO not to release their tricycles.

They were said to have been subsequently traced to their hideout in Ijebu Ode where they were re-arrested on Saturday, June 26.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, CP Edward Awolowo Ajogun has ordered that the suspects be charged to court without further delay. He also directed that their other accomplices as well as their buyers be hunted for and brought to justice.