Police shun N200,000 bribe, arrest six thieves

Police have arrested two security guards, who allegedly connived with four others to rob a company they were guarding at the Ilupeju area of the Lagos metropolis. The suspects were said to have offered N200,000 bribe to a police patrol team attached to Ilupeju Police Station, which stumbled on them while loading their trucks with products from the company. The stolen products are 630bags of PVC chemicals valued at N3 million.

The guards are Obete Obete, Olalere Olanrewaju, while their accomplices are Suleiman Alabi, Akeem Taiwo, Fatai Aweda and Suleiman Aremu. Aweda and Alabi were the motor boys who came with Taiwo, the driver of the truck, to load the products, while Aremu was the buyer. Attempting to exonerate themselves, the security guards told police that it was Alabi who lured them into the act.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, confirmed the incident. She said: “If not that they were caught in the act, the security guards would have come up with the story that they were overpowered and tied up by the robbers. “That is the latest trend that we have uncovered among security guard who team up with robbers to rob the companies they are supposed to watch.” It was gathered that on February 7, the team, which was on a routine patrol around the Ilupeju axis, noticed suspicious movements at No. 6 Industrial Avenue, Ilupeju.
According to a source, one of the principal suspects, Aremu, offered N200,000 bribe to the police, to escape arrest. Braide said the suspects would be charged to court for conspiracy, stealing and for attempting to bribe the police.