Spokesperson for the command, Wasiu Abiodun, who disclosed this in a statement, yesterday, explained that a truck with registration number KMC 613 ZR, loaded with about 700 bags of soybeans from Kano State and heading to Lagos, reportedly developed a mechanical fault on reaching Tunga-Ruwa village via Mokwa.
According to him, a four-man gang, armed with cutlasses and sticks, riding in a J5 Peugeot vehicle with registration number KJA 127 YC, approached the truck, tied the motor boys and stole some of the soya beans.
He said the J5 vehicle containing 64 bags of soybeans was later intercepted by a police patrol team around Lafiagi in Mokwa, and one Abu Abdulrahman, 33, of Mando area of Kaduna State was arrested, while others escaped.
Abiodun said during interrogation, the suspect said they were planning to take the soybeans to Kaduna. He mentioned one Adamu from Zaria and two others as gang members, currently at large.
He noted that the suspect has been arraigned in court, while effort is being intensified to arrest other fleeing members of the gang.
In a related development, police operatives attached to Government Reservation Area (G.R.A) Division in Minna, the state capital, on December 21, arrested one Abubakar Mohammed, 40, of Tudun Fulani, in Bosso, while trying to drive a Honda Civic vehicle with registration number KAG 371 AA out of Kure market where it had been parked.
Abiodun said the incident attracted a mob, which tried to lynch him but he was rescued and arrested by the police.
“During interrogation, he confessed to having removed the vehicle from the car park with a fabricated key, and that he planned to take the vehicle to his usual receiver, one Bashir Mohammed of Mando area in Kaduna State.
“He further confessed to have stolen one red Honda Civic (Joker) vehicle from the same market around March 2023.
The suspect revealed that he sold the vehicle to the same Bashir in Kaduna for N200,000.
“The suspect claimed that he needed more money for farming, and to build a personal house in Wushishi, to prepare himself for marriage, as he does not have a wife currently. The case is under investigation at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) Minna, with an effort to proceed to Kaduna State for possible arrest of the said Bashir Mohammed,” Abiodun added.
