How We Intercepted Truck Conveying Military Camouflage To South-east — Police

By Rotela Oguns

The Lagos police command has revealed it’s operatives intercepted a truck conveying military fatigues and 80 cartons of “illicit substances” to the south-east.

Tijani Fatai, the Lagos Commissioner of Police made this disclosure during a press briefing on Tuesday.

According to the CP, the truck was intercepted at the Lekki-Epe corridor while heading out of Lagos.

While highlighting the steps taken so far by the police, Fatai noted that the command has commenced an investigation to ascertain the source and intended recipients of the recovered items.

He, however, added that that three suspects have been arrested in connection with the recovered items.

“Preliminary investigation revealed that the recovered truck was allegedly being used to transport the military camouflage uniforms to the eastern part of the country,” he said.

“Investigation is ongoing to determine the source, ownership, and intended recipients of the recovered items, as well as establish the extent of the suspects’ involvement and identify other persons connected with the criminal act.”

Meanwhile, in another development, the Lagos police commissioner said some foreign nationals were “rescued from possible mob action” in the Epe area of the state.

Fatai said the foreign nationals include 14 Chadians, nine Burkinabes, four Beninoise, four Malians, two Togolese, two Cameroonians and one Ghanaian.

According to him, 20 of the individuals entered Nigeria illegally, while 18 had valid ECOWAS travel documents.

The Lagos CP stressed that it took the swift intervention of the operatives of the command to thwart the mob’s plan of punishing the foreign nationals extrajudicially.

Fatai, however, added that the matter has been referred to relevant authorities, including embassies and the Nigeria Immigration Service.

While the Lagos CP did not mention the reason for the thwarted mob action, the planned but failed action may have been prompted by the recent spate of insecurity bedeviling the country.

The insecurity has become a sort of ill wind blowing across the country making citizens especially those in the Southwest extremely conscious.

Residents of southwestern states have become so wary of foreigners in their region in a manner that borders on paranoia.

This development has attracted criticisms from people of other regions, particularly the Northerners who have described the action as “ethnic profiling”.