The Ogun State Community, Social Orientation and Safety Corps, popularly known as So-Safe Corps, has arrested three suspects for allegedly stealing and selling diesel meant for a road construction project in the state.
The Corps disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday by its Director of Information and Public Relations, Assistant Commander of Corps Adegunwa Adegbuyi, quoting the State Commander, Dr Soji Ganzallo.
According to the statement, the suspects were apprehended following intelligence reports linking them to the illegal purchase of diesel designated for use by the company handling road construction along the Idogo axis in Yewa South Local Government Area.
Ganzallo said the Corps subsequently set up an investigation and surveillance team led by the Ilaro Area Commander, ACC Moruf Adaranijo, to monitor the activities of the syndicate.
He explained that although an earlier attempt to arrest the suspects in May was unsuccessful due to insufficient intelligence, fresh information received on June 22 revealed that the group operated mainly on Mondays and Saturdays.
“Armed with this information, the team decided to burst their activities that same day the information was received,” the commander said.
The statement noted that officers strategically positioned themselves at various points before trailing a vehicle suspected to be conveying the stolen diesel.
According to Ganzallo, the suspects attempted to flee after realising they were being followed, but their vehicle developed a tyre fault along Sokoto Road in Idogo, enabling security operatives to surround and arrest them.
The arrested suspects were identified as Gbolahan Ayobami, 27, a grader machine operator; Adedamola Ayomide, 29, the driver of the vehicle; and Ajibose Ayobami, 20, a loader and son of the alleged buyer of the diesel.
Ganzallo said the suspects confessed during interrogation that they had carried out similar operations three times within the past month.
“In fact, they admitted that they still bought the items last week,” he stated.
Items recovered from the suspects included a Mazda vehicle with registration number JJJ 913 GX and 17 gallons containing 30 litres of diesel each.
The commander added that the case had been transferred to the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Ilaro Area Command, for further investigation and possible prosecution.
