By Emma Amaize, Regional
Editor, South-South
…Police, military disagree on
culpability of corporal
A syndicate specializing in
hijacking loaded petroleum
products in Delta State,
kidnapping owners/drivers
of affected trucks and
holding them hostage until
the products are
illegitimately sold have been
exposed by the police.
The gang, which allegedly
parades a serving soldier
and five officials of the
National Union of Petroleum
and Natural Gas Workers,
NUPENG, as the operators
have been in the money-
spinning business for more
than one year, until recently
when men of the Special
Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS,
burst it.
Information revealed that
the syndicate owned a
master key with which they
steal vehicles and the
members were hibernating
in Ughelli, Agbarho, Effurun
and Orerokpe, all in Delta
State.
The notorious gang had
made life agonizing on the
Ughelli/Warri and Warri-
Abraka-Agbor highways
uncomfortable for tanker
drivers.
They used signposts to flag
down tanker drivers because
they were aware of the rules
guiding NUPENG, which
makes it mandatory for the
drivers to stop for checks,
while the involvement of the
army officer in the syndicate
makes buyers in Benin City to
think that the business was
legal.
Luck, however, ran out of
them when the SARS
received information about
their escapades and arrested
one of them, identified as
Kelly, who, on interrogation,
spilled the beans. Police
detectives trailed and later
seized other members of the
gang, including Shedrack,
Austin, Uruemu, Odafe and
the army officer.
Delta State Commissioner of
Police, Mr. Ikechukwu
Aduba, confirmed the
bursting of the kidnapping/
tanker hijack gang, "The
gang members under
interrogation confessed and
named a serving army
corporal and one Mamus,
now at large, supplying
arms to the gang", Aduba
said.
"Items recovered from them
include one red Volkswagon
Vento car and another blue
Volkswagon Vento car,
which the gang used for
operation," he added.
Illegal-refinery-Army
Resume of gang members
Kelly: Investigations showed
that Kelly, from Agbarho in
Ughelli North local
government area, is,
according to security
sources, a truck driver. He
was attached to the
monitoring team of NUPENG
and assigned the
responsibility of checking
products diversion and
hoarding in filling stations,
but stopped working with
the team in January when he
found the kidnapping/
hijacking business to be
more profitable. He was
residing in Orerorokpe when
the business started.
Shedrack : Sources say he
hails from Agbarho and is a
driver by profession. Austin:
He is said to be an indigene
of Effurun in Ughelli South
local government and was
said to be a house painter.
Uruemu: The suspect is
allegedly from Eku in Ughelli
South local government and
is a dealer in petroleum
products. Kelly, sources said,
used to be his driver.
Odafe : He is allegedly from
Ekwere in Agbarho and
holds an Ordinary National
Diploma in civil engineering.
John: He is identified as an
army corporal attached to
the 3 Battalion, Effurun. This
army officer was alleged to
be supplying arms to the
gang and initiated people
into the gang.
Escapades
A source familiar with the
exploits of the syndicate said
that, sometime, last year,
Kelly, Shedrack, John, Odafe
and one Ojo ambushed a
tanker loaded with kerosene
at Oha old Bridge. The army
officer, who, reportedly,
wore his army uniform,
ordered the vehicle to stop
and, when it did, the driver
and conducted were
abducted and he (the army
officer) drove the vehicle to
Benin City in company of
Kelly.
The "hostage" was allegedly
ordered into Ojo's car on
that day while Sunday
Vanguard was informed that
the syndicate sold the
product in Benin City. They
drove the tanker back to and
parked it along Eku/Sapele
Road.
After that, they brought out
the driver and his conductor
and dropped them very close
to the tanker on the said
road.
Investigations carried out by
the police showed the
product was sold to one Gabi
and Godspower and trans-
loaded into another tanker in
a compound in Benin City.
Odafe admitted to the police
that he got N75,000 from
this operation.
Master key
Sunday Vanguard was told
that, on a certain day, four
members of the gang were
returning from Lagos for an
operation with the army
corporal when they ran out
of fuel and the corporal left
and came back later with
one of the members in a
Camry car. When asked how
they got the vehicle, he said
somebody gave him a master
key with with they opened
the vehicle. Kelly also
admitted to police detectives
that he once stole a Camry
car at Orerokpe and sold, to
a car dealer in Benin City.
More exploits
We also gathered that
sometime, this year, Kelly,
Austin and Timothy hijacked
a truck and sold the product
in Benin City at N65 per liter.
One of them got N35,000 as
his share from the operation.
In addition, the gang
hijacked another tanker at
Koko junction and took the
driver to a bush before
Shedrack, Timothy and Kelly
drove the vehicle to Benin
City to sell the product. The
operation yielded N30,000
each to the syndicate.
Hullabaloo
The army corporal was said
to have admitted
membership of the gang to
the police, but a top army
officer told Sunday Vanguard
that the police was telling a
cock and bull story. He said,
"For the avoidance of doubt,
the 3 Battalion, Effurun, had
since arrested the army
personnel that was
mentioned, he is languishing
in cell since the allegation
was made against him".
"However, when the police
came with other suspects
that were arrested, he was
paraded and they could not
identify him. They were
saying that person that was
their accomplice had a tribal
mark, but the soldier in
question does not have a
tribal mark. You see, there is
doubt as to his culpability
and we do not want to
punish an innocent person
wrongly."
The officer explained that the
army authorities would not
cover any personnel involved
in shady practices, hence the
soldier that accusing finger
was pointed at was arrested,
but the allegation has not
been proved. A senior police
officer, who spoke to Sunday
Vanguard on the
development, said, "Whoever
spoke to you on the army
side is standing the truth on
the head. The army corporal
was identified by members
of the syndicate as their
member, he is the one that
was bringing guns and he
facilitated their operation
with his army uniform.
"It is because he is in
uniform that the syndicate
found it very easy to carry
out their nefarious activities
until they were caught. The
army said they were carrying
out orderly room trial and
the suspects in our custody
identified the soldier. We
have asked them to hand
him over to us for
prosecution, but they are still
holding on to him.
"How can they say that there
is doubt when he (suspect)
admitted to the police that
he went to Orerokpe to meet
Kelly for the Orerokpe truck
hijack. He was the one that
took the truck loaded with
diesel to Benin City, after
which he was given
N120,000.
"He also admitted going to
Benin City with the other
suspects, but denied stealing
any of the two Camry cars
from Orerokpe and Benin
City and disposing them in
Benin City".
NUPENG validates existence
of gang
Investigations also showed
that the police visited
NUPENG office in Ekpan, near
Warri, where officials
confirmed that several
tankers were hijacked and
drivers taken hostage and
robbed by an unknown
gang.
Following the revelations, the
police were able to obtain
some case files concerning a
number of hijack incidents
from the Divisional Police
Officers in Isiokolo and
Abraka, which revealed the
owners of two of the trucks
stolen to be Messrs.
Emmanuel Nwafor and
Ndukwe A.U. Ndukwe. The
cost of the stolen kerosene
was put at N2.8 million, but
the owners of the diesel
products could not be
located.
A police source told Sunday
Vanguard, "The owners of
the cars stolen at Orerokpe
were identified, but when
detectives visited Benin City
to arrest receivers, it was a
fruitless efforts, as they had
become aware of the
manhunt for them and
disappeared into thin air."
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