Man hides 2,660 live ammunition in sacks of beans

By Kunle Adeyemi

Men of the Lagos State Police Command are hunting for a man believed to be the owner of a large cache of ammunition hidden in three sacks of beans.


The seized ammunition found in sacks of beans




Although a suspect (Olalekan Ifonlaja) was arrested with the exhibits, he has insisted that he knows nothing about the ammunition.

Policemen discovered the exhibits at about 10am on Monday in a Mitsubishi cab (Lagos colour) with registration number XP 913 KRD at Mile 2.

Our correspondent learnt that the command got a hint that some suspected criminals were planning to bring the ammunition to Lagos through the Seme/Badagry route.

The informant told the police that a taxi was going to be used to ferry the exhibits, but he did not give the registration number or type of vehicle it would be.

With this information, operatives of the Rapid Response Squad were directed to carry out a stop-and-search operation on the route, especially on all taxis.

It was learnt that when this particular taxi was stopped for a check, the driver initially ignored the policemen but after a round of gunshots in its direction, the driver brought the car to a halt.

Just as the two occupants were ordered to come out of the vehicle, one of them (the passenger) took to his heels.

The man's escape raised the suspicion of the policemen, who sought to know what was contained in the cab.

The driver told them it was beans but when one of the sacks was slit the policemen saw live ammunition and new AK-47 magazines.

After searching the three sacks, 2,660 pieces of live ammunition and 60 empty magazines were discovered. The driver was immediately arrested.

The suspect and the exhibits were initially taken to the RRS base at the Governor's Office at Alausa before being transferred to the command headquarters in GRA, Ikeja.

The commissioner in charge of the command, Mr. Marvel Akpoyibo, paraded the suspect and the exhibits on Tuesday.

But Ifonlaja maintained that he knew nothing about the ammunition of its source, saying that he was merely hired as a taxi driver by the owner of the sacks.

His words, "I am jus a victim of circumstance. I don't know anything about this. I am not just a taxi driver, I am the owner of the car.

"I have been doing this work for some years now and this type of thing never happened to me. I was surprised when the owner of the sacks ran away after the police stopped us."

Meanwhile, the command's spokesman, Mr. Frank Mba, said the case would be handed over to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad for further investigation.

http://odili.net/news/source/2008/nov/12/431.html

DeepZone:
Man hides 2,660 live ammunition in sacks of beans

By Kunle Adeyemi

Men of the Lagos State Police Command are hunting for a man believed to be the owner of a large cache of ammunition hidden in three sacks of beans.


The seized ammunition found in sacks of beans




Although a suspect (Olalekan Ifonlaja) was arrested with the exhibits, he has insisted that he knows nothing about the ammunition.

Policemen discovered the exhibits at about 10am on Monday in a Mitsubishi cab (Lagos colour) with registration number XP 913 KRD at Mile 2.

Our correspondent learnt that the command got a hint that some suspected criminals were planning to bring the ammunition to Lagos through the Seme/Badagry route.

The informant told the police that a taxi was going to be used to ferry the exhibits, but he did not give the registration number or type of vehicle it would be.

With this information, operatives of the Rapid Response Squad were directed to carry out a stop-and-search operation on the route, especially on all taxis.

It was learnt that when this particular taxi was stopped for a check, the driver initially ignored the policemen but after a round of gunshots in its direction, the driver brought the car to a halt.

Just as the two occupants were ordered to come out of the vehicle, one of them (the passenger) took to his heels.

The man's escape raised the suspicion of the policemen, who sought to know what was contained in the cab.

The driver told them it was beans but when one of the sacks was slit the policemen saw live ammunition and new AK-47 magazines.

After searching the three sacks, 2,660 pieces of live ammunition and 60 empty magazines were discovered. The driver was immediately arrested.

The suspect and the exhibits were initially taken to the RRS base at the Governor's Office at Alausa before being transferred to the command headquarters in GRA, Ikeja.

The commissioner in charge of the command, Mr. Marvel Akpoyibo, paraded the suspect and the exhibits on Tuesday.

But Ifonlaja maintained that he knew nothing about the ammunition of its source, saying that he was merely hired as a taxi driver by the owner of the sacks.

His words, "I am jus a victim of circumstance. I don't know anything about this. I am not just a taxi driver, I am the owner of the car.

"I have been doing this work for some years now and this type of thing never happened to me. I was surprised when the owner of the sacks ran away after the police stopped us."

Meanwhile, the command's spokesman, Mr. Frank Mba, said the case would be handed over to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad for further investigation.

http://odili.net/news/source/2008/nov/12/431.html

After thorough investigation we would know whether u ar3 guilty or not

I can't laugh oooo! The driver might be innocent and he might be guilty. But the real criminal was able to escape which is bad on the part of the police men. They should be disciplined!!!!