Police arrest five over truck break-in, sheep, phone and transformer theft in Niger

The Niger State Police Command has arrested five suspects in separate cases involving an attempted truck break-in, livestock theft, phone snatching and vandalism of electricity transformer components.

The Police Public Relations Officer of the state, SP Wasiu Abiodun, disclosed this in a statement in Minna.

He said the arrests, made between October 27 and November 3, also led to the recovery of two sheep, a mobile phone and tools allegedly used in breaking into trucks.

According to him, police operatives attached to Maje Division intercepted a Sharon vehicle along the Kaduna-Abuja Expressway around 4:15 am on November 3.

The PRO revealed that the vehicle, driven by Alkasim Mohammed of Mararaba, Nasarawa State, was allegedly being used by him and three accomplices to break into trucks conveying goods along major highways.

The police said the suspects had attempted to break into a truck conveying pharmaceutical products from Onitsha to Kano, using chisels to tamper with its padlock and security seals.

Abiodun explained that while three accomplices escaped into a nearby bush, Mohammed was arrested.

Items recovered from the vehicle included a jackknife, pliers, hammer and chisels.

In a separate incident in Suleja, police arrested Suleiman Ibrahim, 34, after he was allegedly sighted conveying two stolen white sheep towards Maje Market.

The PRO disclosed that the suspect was rescued from an attempted mob lynching before being taken into custody.

Police said he later led investigators to the livestock owner, whose identification of the sheep led to the arrest of another suspect, Zaiyanu Adamu, 50 years, allegedly involved in receiving stolen livestock.

Also, a 31-year-old man, Ishaq Abubakar, was arrested for allegedly snatching a mobile phone from a 12-year-old boy in Kwamba Mayor Area on November 3.

The handset was recovered concealed in his underwear after police found him hiding in a nearby bush.

Meanwhile, police arrested Ibrahim Gada over the alleged theft of transformer components belonging to a housing estate in an incident reported on October 28. Some exhibits were recovered, while efforts continued to retrieve the remaining components.

The five suspects are in custody undergoing investigation, while police are searching for the three fleeing accomplices in the truck break-in case.