A truck driver and suspected member of a six-man robbery gang arrested by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Lagos State Police Command, Emmanuel Agbazue (25), has said that he connived with five others to divert N35 million worth of goods in order to get enough money to marry a woman he was in love with and also start a business of his own.
Agbazue and the other members of the gang were arrested at a warehouse in Lagos while they were offloading the goods in question into the warehouse of the receiver. The other suspects include Haruna Abdullahi (48), Nsube Okoli (20), Chinedu Ukaonu (27) and Aloysius Anuntu (42) and one Alhaji Sani who was not charged as he was found to have been a victim of circumstances.
According to police sources, the diverted goods belonged to Friesland, a subsidiary of WAMCO Plc situated at Ogba Industrial Estate, Ikeja. The raw milk was said to have been imported for the production of powdered milk.
Agbazue, a driver with a transport company named Jetra, was said to have been the one that drove the truck with which the goods in question were moved from the port at Tin Can Island to the company’s premises at Ogba. Thereafter, he allegedly contacted Ukaonu to help him in diverting the goods. Ukaonu in turn contacted a Lagos-based auto spare parts dealer named Aloysius to look for a buyer to whom they could dispose off the goods at a give-away price.
Aloysius then contacted one Ibrahim based in Maroko, a suburb of Lagos, who in turn contacted one Tukur and both of them agreed to buy the diverted goods for N17 million. Thereafter, they contacted one Haruna, a resident of Railway Line, Agege, Lagos, to help them secure a warehouse where the diverted goods would be kept for onward transportation to Sokoto. Haruna was said to have paid the sum of N40,000 for the warehouse located in Kara area of Ibafo, Ogun State.
But following a tip off, the Officer in Charge of SARS, Abba Kyari, a Superintendent of Police (SP), mobilised his men to the location and met the six suspects offloading the goods into a the warehouse. The SARS operatives arrested all the suspects and recovered the stolen goods and the trailer.
Though before SARS operatives swooped on the suspects, half of the stolen goods had been offloaded, hence, the loaders were ordered to reload the ones they had loaded into the warehouse back to the truck and the suspects and the trailer carrying the 40-feet container were later taken to Scorpion House for further investigation.
However, interrogation by the police was said to have revealed that Alhaji Sani was only a victim of circumstance. Haruna told the police that Sani only escorted him to the warehouse as he used to, and the fact that he saw him pay the sum of N40,000 to hire the warehouse made him not to suspect that they were dealing in stolen goods. Other members of the gang also corroborated Haruna’s explanation, saying that Sani was innocent. Abba Kyari therefore set him free with a warning that he would no longer be spared if he was found in the company of looters again.
Narrating his role in the saga, Agbazue said: “I am a native of Okija in Anambra State and a trailer driver with Jetra Petroleum Haulage on a monthly salary of N18,000. I started working with the company in June last year. The monthly salary is too small. From each trip I made, the company collected between N200,000 to N300,000, even if the consignee paid N150,000 per trip and I made up to eight trips or more in a month, which brought the company’s income to about N1.2 million per month.
“Even if business is dull, there is no way half a million naira would not enter the company’s account in a month. Yet, they could not pay reasonable salary. What would happen if a fatal accident occurs? The company can abandon me.
“To make matters worse, the company would monitor us from the point of loading to the point of delivery, and there was no opportunity for us to carry load or passengers along the road to make extra money. Even the N6,000 the company used to give us for the road, there was no way you would manage it and get something reasonable. For instance, when we collected the N6,000, we would pay between N1,500 and N2,000 for TDO paper. When the load came out, you would buy ticket of N1,000. By the time all the payments were made, I would be left with N1,000 or N1,500, which I shared with the conductor. That was not enough for food, drinks, cigarette and kola nut, which we needed to keep us going on the highway.
“To worsen matters, I wanted to get married to my sweetheart but there was no way I could get the huge amount budgeted for it. You know that every long vehicle driver likes women, especially prostitutes. They sleep with prostitutes wherever the night catches up with them.
“I knew that there was a tracker in the trailer, so I removed it so that they would not know my location. It was a surprise to us that SARS men discovered our location. I was asked to deliver the goods from Apapa to WAMCO at Ogba (Lagos), but I diverted it to Ojodu Berger and Kara areas.
“I needed the sum of N17 million to start business and do my wedding. I had an account with a bank containing the sum of N21,000, but my ATM card stopped working. Four of us intended to share the N17 million. Unfortunately, the buyers of the goods had not paid before SARS operatives arrested us and recovered the goods.”
Asked whether he had any regrets over his action, he said: “I regret losing my job, which used to give me some money for feeding. I also regret not getting the millions I targeted. I am now facing interrogation and possible prosecution.”
The second suspect, Okoli, said: “I am from Amaichi Umuwaehi in Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra State. I am a truck conductor. They don’t pay me salary. It was the driver (Agbazue) who employed me and gave me money any time we went on a trip, like N200 for feeding, N100 for hot drink and N20 for cigarette. At the end of each trip, he gave me N1,000.”
Asked if he was a party to the plan to divert the goods, he said: “Yes, I was aware. We had been doing it, but this one would have paid us better. If I had succeeded, I would have bought a commercial bus and stop this long-distance travelling.
“There was one we diverted in Nnewi, Anambra State, sometime ago and they gave me N50,000. I don’t know the worth of the goods involved in this one. It was a 40-feet container and the goods were worth millions.
“I dropped out at JSS 3 because of financial handicap. Nobody was willing to assist or accommodate me. Hence, I slept in the market or at the motor park. The driver picked me from the motor park and I have been serving him well.
“My regret is that I did not get a dime from this operation before I was arrested.”
Ukaonu on his part said: “I am a native of Isialangwa in Abia State. I am a trailer driver. I am single. I stopped my educational career in primary six. I was arrested because we conspired to divert some goods.”
Asked how he got involved in the deal, he said he and Agbazue learnt driving together. “We are neighbours. On that fateful day, he called me and told me that there was an urgent job to be done and it would fetch us big money. I asked him how much and he said it would be in millions of naira and that it would take us to the next level of life. I was very happy.
“I quickly contacted one Aloysius and he said he knew some buyers. He called one of them known as Alhaji Ibrahim. Later, Ibrahim called his boss named Alhaji Tukur, who signified interest in buying the entire consignment. From there, I continued to monitor the progress of the operation from the loading to the offloading points.
“I followed them very closely because criminals who divert goods are heartless. If you are not present, they could divert your own share. Where will you report them if they don’t give you your own share after disposing the goods? Therefore, to be on the safe side, you follow them closely so that you will not be cheated.
“I was with them at Kara, the off-loading point on May 11, 2013 when SARS operatives stormed the place and got six of us arrested. But they later released one when they found out that he was innocent.
“I was driving for AURUM Energy, a transport company. But I left them after I had a fatal accident that got the trailer badly damaged. The company refused to repair the trailer, which left me redundant for almost eight months. Hence, I resigned and joined the gang. I had both the G and E licences and I am good at driving. But I needed big money to solve the big problem I had. Driving alone cannot give me the money even in 20 years time.
“I have no regrets over my action because I don’t have a kobo in my pocket now, and a man without money is a dead man.”
The fourth suspect, Aloysius, said: “I am from Abagana in Njikoka Local Government Area, Anambra State. I deal in auto spare parts at Oyingbo in Lagos Mainland, where I have a large shop. But I reside at No. 56, Okera Road, Railway Compound, Oyingbo. I was the one that contacted Alhaji Ibrahim who in turn contacted Alhaji Tukur.”
On why he contacted Ibrahim, Aloysius said: “I did so because Chinedu said he had some stolen goods to dispose. I then said I knew one Alhaji Ibrahim who was an agent to Alhaji Tukur. There and then, Alhaji Ibrahim called Alhaji Tukur and we negotiated the price and agreed on N17 million.
“The said Tukur arrived Lagos from Ibadan between 11.30 pm and midnight that day. He said the person that would provide the key to the warehouse at Ojodu Berger had not arrived and asked us to wait till 5 am.
After 5 am, the man still did not surface. But at about 7 am, Alhaji Tukur’s boy arrived and with the key. He opened the warehouse and we opened the container. They negotiated with one Haruna Abdullahi to pay them the sum of N40,000 to use the warehouse for four days.
“We stood at a corner while they negotiated. In the end, the labourers started off-loading the diverted goods. As they were off-loading the goods, SARS operatives appeared and arrested everybody. They also ordered the labourers to reload the container. The container was later taken to Scorpion House (SARS headquarters) along with the suspects and the goods.”
He said he did not get a dime from the deal and that it was his first experience. His wife, he said, never knew that he was involved in crime because she travelled. “But when she came back, she was informed and she came to see me. She quarrelled with me and asked me why I should partake in such a dirty deal. But I pleaded with her that it was the handiwork of the devil,” he said.
The fifth suspect, Haruna said he was a trader of empty sacks and nylon, but he realised that there was no much money in the business. “I am married with five children. How do you expect me to feed all these mouths, including my wife’s, with the sale of sacks and nylon bags?” he asked.
“How much is school fees? I am addressed as an Alhaji but I have never gone to Mecca. People just call me Alhaji and I claimed it because it raised my social status.
“I am from Panisau village in Ungogo Local Government Area, Kano State. Alhaji Tukur sent Aloysius and Alhaji Ibrahim and Chinedu, and I went to show them the warehouse. It was in the morning, but they said they would be bringing the goods in the night. After bringing the goods at about midnight, they called me and I told them that I would not be able to come at that hour. I told them to wait till 5 am.
“I got there at 7 am. We called the owner of the warehouse and he sent his boy. After opening the warehouse, they opened the container and started offloading. In the process, SARS operatives stormed the place and got all of us arrested.
“The goods were already half off-loaded, but the police ordered us to load them back into the container. Unfortunately, SARS operatives arrested my friend, Alhaji Sani, who I had asked to accompany me to the place. But during investigation, the police found that he was not connected with the deal and he was released. He was exonerated by all the other suspects.
“But let me make it clear that many of us at Railway Line, Agege, specialise in buying and selling stolen goods, and people patronise us because our goods are very cheap.”
Asked how he felt free to sell stolen goods close to Isokoko, Pen Cinema and Elere police stations, he said: “It is a contact point for many areas in Lagos where stolen goods are sold. They buy from them and we do not allow members to misbehave to avoid attracting the attention of the police.
“Whenever there is a misunderstanding between a buyer and a seller, we try our best to solve the problem amicably. Besides, we do not allow our members to take their matters to the police in order to keep the police away.”
