Two suspects, who are members of criminal syndicates that specializes in hijacking and stealing empty containers from importers and transporters under the pretext of using same for stuffing of export goods were arrested by the Surveillance Team of the Maritime Police Command, Lagos.
Ehinmode Adewumihe, the acting Police Public Relations Officer of the command, revealed this in a statement obtained recently.
Adewumi said that the male suspects, Okechukwu Onyewuenyi and Chukwuma Ogwashima, were 43 and 42 years old, respectively.
He went on to say that the suspects belonged to criminal syndicates that were experts at robbing importers and transporters of empty containers and utilizing them to stow export items.
He said that the suspects had been apprehended recently by the Kenneth Ogbeifun-led surveillance team of the Maritime Police Command, Lagos.
Adewunmi stated, “The duo and other members, who are currently at large, are fond of faking indemnity to shipping companies and thereafter selling the empty containers to unsuspecting members of the public,”.
He explained that luck ran out of suspects when a case of stolen containers was reported to the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Maritime Police Command, Olofu Rhoda, who ordered the surveillance team to investigate it.
The command’s image maker added that after a thorough investigation, the suspects were apprehended in their hideout at the Ijegun area of Lagos State, while others ran away.
“Other members of the gang at large include Prince Oba, Israel Godwin, and others. Efforts are ongoing to apprehend the fleeing suspects,” he said.
Adewunmi noted that the two arrested suspects had since been arraigned to court and remanded in prison custody.
AIG Rhoda, however, issued a warning, that all those who were hell-bent on committing all forms of criminality would not be spared whenever they were caught.
The AIG stated further that the command under her watch would not relent in combating crimes at the ports and the nation’s waterways.
Established in 2013, the maritime command of the NPF is the administrative and supervisory command of all water-related policing units of the service.
Other ancillary commands include the National Inland Waterways Authority Police, the Marine Police, the Ports Authority Police, the Eastern Ports Command in Port Harcourt, and the Western Ports Command in Apapa, Lagos.
