By Evelyn Usman

Tanker drivers, particularly those conveying petroleum products have suffered untold agony in the hands of men of the underworld, following an outright hijack of the trucks. Some of the drivers, including their motor-boys were sometimes killed, at the slightest attempt to put up resistance. Others were left with scars of bullet wounds or even disfigured by dangerous instrument from men of the underworld.

Daniel Duru and James Okushemi

Like many other tanker drivers, Mallam Ahmed Yusuf, a resident of Rorobi street, Olodi Apapa, Lagos, lifted a truck load of 33,000 litres of diesel, from Apapa jetty, in the company of the motor boy on January 16,2011. Destination was an area in the northern part of the country.

However, at night fall, the truck driver decided to pass the night at Oojo park in Akinyele Local Government Area of Ibadan, Oyo State capital. Then, the unexpected happened, as Ahmed Yusuf and his motor boy were woken up by the reflection of what turned out to be torchlight.

At first, they thought the invaders were policemen or members of a vigilante group. But their worst fear was confirmed when the strangers brought out guns and ordered them to stand up. Ahmed and his boy were reportedly asked to come out of the truck with the key

Nnamdi Ofor and Monday Okoro

collected from them. The robbers thereafter, drove the fully loaded truck away to the consternation of their helpless victims.

The incident occurred three weeks ago. But the good news is that men of the Ogun State Police command have arrested four persons in connection with the hijacked truck. The suspects according to the command specialized in hijacking loaded tankers to ready buyers at give away prices at filling stations across the south east and south west parts of the country..

The arrested suspects identified as Monday Okoro, Nnamdi Offor, Daniel Duru and James Okushemi were reportedly apprehended at a black spot at Mobalufon Area of Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State.

The content as gathered was sold in Ibadan , while the stolen truck with plate number XF 978 MKA, was also recovered . But the truck was discovered to have been repainted.

Prime suspect, Daniel Duru, according to operatives ,reportedly sold the content at N45 per litre as against N126 it is obtained right form NNPC depot. A total of 1.5 Million was realized for the sale as against N4.2 Million of the actual amount..

23 year-old Daniel and his alleged cohorts were paraded along side other robbery suspects at the Ogun state Police Command, Elewe-Eran. He told Crime Alert that the vehicle was driven to Benin, the Edo state capital from where it was repainted., adding that he paid the sum of N1.2 Million for the purchase of the truck and the remaining contents . But he maintained that he never partook in the robbery but only bought the truck and its content from those he claimed brought it.

According to him, “Immediately, the vehicle was driven to Benin, where the colour was changed. Thereafter, I contracted a driver I met at old Benin tollgate to drive the tanker trailer to Ijebu-Ode and paid him N5, 000. He drove the vehicle to Ijebu-Ode where I intended to sell the remaining diesel. Immediately, the driver had finished his assignment he returned to his Old Benin tollgate. I did not have enough money on me and I needed to raise some amount so as to pay for my hotel accommodation bill at Ijebu-Ode. Then, I called my friend, Nnamdi Offor, who worked in Lagos to meet me at Ijebu-Ode. It was Nnamdi who assisted me to get a buyer, Monday for the diesel. The four of us here were discharging the remaining content from the tanker when a police patrol van pulled up and accosted us.

We were taken to the police station and during interrogation I told the policemen that the diesel was a bunkering product but their continued insistence to take them to the person who sold it to me, nailed me, as I could not offer satisfactory explanation. I was then forced to confess to them that the product and the tanker trailer were actually stolen”. Continuing, the former clothe seller said, “I have some boys who usually sold the petroleum products to me and they told me they were bunkering products. But it was only recently that I got to know they were sourced from hijacked tankers. Most times, they gave out the products to me on trust, without paying a kobo until I was able to sell them off. I have a regular receiver, who owns a filling station in Ibadan and whenever I took the petroleum products to him, he paid N45 per litre. This was my second attempt”, stated Daniel

For 23-year-old James Okushemi, one of the alleged accomplices, he claimed not to be involved in the shady deal, describing himself as a victim of circumstance. He said, “I am a security man with ‘Scorpio Guard’, a private firm, with its office at Shangotedo, Lekki, Lagos Island. Daniel called and told me he wanted to give me a job as a motor boy. But I did not know the truck was stolen. I was only arrested as we were discharging fuel from the tanker”, narrated the Abraka, Delta State-born suspect.

The duo of Nnamdi Offor, 27 years old and Monday Okoro, 33 years old, also exonerated themselves from participating in the robbery incident, stating that they were also invited by Daniel to get buyers for him.

The recovered truck according to the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Musa Daura was still in police custody, adding that the suspects would be soon be arraigned in court.