The Nigerian Police Force, Maritime Police Command, has arrested two suspects for faking indemnity to shipping companies and stealing empty containers.
The acting Police Public Relations Officer of the command, Ehinmode Adewumi, disclosed this in a statement obtained by The PUNCH, recently.
Adewumi claimed that the male suspects, Okechukwu Onyewuenyi and Chukwuma Ogwashima, were 43 and 42 years old, respectively.
He added that the suspects were members of criminal syndicates that specialise in hijacking and stealing empty containers from importers and transporters under the pretext of using the same for stuffing export goods.
He said that the suspects had been apprehended recently by the Kenneth Ogbeifun-led surveillance team of the Maritime Police Command, Lagos.
“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,” Adewunmi stated.
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 stated that the two arrested suspects had since been charged to court and remanded in prison custody.
However, AIG Rhoda warned 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 fighting 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.
