Detectives from the Ondo State Police Command have nabbed a three-man syndicate that specialised in stealing lister power generating engines.

The gang was chased to Ilesha, in Osun state, where they were apprehended. 

They were paraded before journalists in Akure, the Ondo state capital, on Tuesday, after they stole two different lister engines. 

Babajide Moses, their ring-leader, who confessed to the crime, told reporters that he and his members had been operating at a different location in the state capital. 

Mr Moses disclosed that the gang always locate where lister engines are being used during the day and would come back at night and lose it before carting them away. 

He explained that he always engages some northerners, whom he described as “malams”, to help him carry the engines from the point of their operation to the bus stop.

“It is from there that we would look for a vehicle to charter and take them down to Owode Onirin, in Kosofe local government area of Lagos state,” he added. 

Speaking shortly after parading the culprits, spokesperson for the Command, Funmilayo Odunlami, said the leader of the gang was arrested by the police in Ilesha while on transit to Lagos with the two stolen lister engines. 

Ms Odunlami explained that the culprit with members of his criminal gang stole the two engines from the resident of FUTA North Gate area of Akure. 

She added that the owners of the lister engines contacted the police on Monday night, and lodged complaints that their generators had been stolen, hence detectives swung into action. 

“A Domino Lister engine was stolen in one location at FUTA North Gate and another VC Morgan Lister engine was stolen on the same axis. 

“So, investigations led to the arrest of the culprits when police chased them to Ilesha where they were nabbed along Akure/Ilesha Expressway,” Ms Odunlami said.

The police spokesperson added that the culprits would soon be arraigned in court. 

A member of the gang, Bolaji Awolowo, who claimed to be a driver of an 18-seater Mazda bus, said he never knew the engines were stolen. 

He said that his service was engaged at the dead of the night, to carry the engines from different points at FUTA North Gate and to the garage where he operates.