Three tricycle drivers have been nabbed in Ogun State for allegedly stealing 300 bags of cement.
The suspects were identified by Abimbola Oyeyemi, the Ogun State Police Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, as Lawal Bidemi AbdulRaheem, Olalekan Azeez, and Opeloyeru Kayode.
Oyeyemi told journalists that the trio were apprehended for conspiring to steal the 300 bags of cement from a warehouse of Sandtrust Quarry Company.
The suspects’ arrest followed a report lodged at Awa-Ijebu divisional headquarters by a staffer of the company.
The complainant had reported that he saw some people in a bush very close to the quarry, loading cement into their tricycles, adding that the cement is suspected to have been stolen from the warehouse of their company.
“Upon the report, the DPO of 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, Oyeyemi said.
The PPRO stated that the tricycle operators confessed during interrogation, they had “stolen the cement from the warehouse of Sandtrust quarry, and that they used their tricycles to convey it to the bush, from where they were taking it to the buyers in batches.
“They confessed further that they have sold parts of the stolen cements to their customers before they were caught.”
It was gathered that 51 bags of the stolen cement were recovered from them suspects 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.
Arrested on June 2, Oyeyemi spoke further that the suspects were granted administrative bail because of the strike embarked upon by the judicial staff union.
“Surprisingly, the three suspects jumped bail and went ahead to accuse the DPO of demanding bribe from them, and that their refusal to bribe him made the DPO not release their tricycles.
“They were subsequently traced to their hideout in Ijebu-Ode, where they were re-arrested on June 26, 2021,” he said.
