The police command in Niger State said it recovered a stolen truck loaded with about 900 bags of cement and arrested three suspects in connection with the crime.

The spokesperson for command, Wasiu Abiodun, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday in Minna.

According to Mr Abiodun, the truck was going from Okpella in Edo State to deliver the cement to a customer in Gwagwalada, Abuja.

He said, “On June 22, around 2:30 p.m., the Gawu-Babangida Police Division received a report that on June 21, at about 8:00 a.m., a Howo truck with Reg. No. HJA 995 XA loaded with about nine hundred bags of cement from Okpelle en route to Gwagwalada, Abuja, had gone missing. On reaching Gwagwalada at about 6:00 p.m., the driver of the truck parked by the roadside to locate the customer. While waiting for the customer, the driver entered a restaurant to eat, but before he returned, the vehicle was moved to an unknown destination. The driver quickly reported to his manager, and the vehicle was tracked to a location in the Lambata axis in Niger State.’’.

The spokesperson added that upon the receipt of the report, the DPO Gawu-Babangida Police Division mobilised his patrol team to the area.

He said the vehicle was recovered on Lambata-Lapai Road with the 900 cements intact.

Mr Abiodun said three suspects – Bashir Isah, 22; Ibrahim Yusuf, 21; and Halidu Mohammed, 28, all of the Gbamita area of Lambata – were arrested in connection with the crime.

“Subsequently, they all confessed to the crime with the intention to sell the cement to another buyer,” he said.

Mr Abiodun said the police had begun an investigation into the case.

(NAN)