[size=14pt]It is easier to steal a truck than a motorcycle - Suspect[/size]
Written by Saka Gbeminiyi, Lagos
Sunday, December 5, 2010


Men of the Ogun State Police Command, Eleweran, Abeokuta, were stunned last week when a suspected truck thief told them that to steal a truck was easier than to steal a motorcycle.The suspect, Sina Lateef, 33, is now a guest at one of the police stations in Abeokuta.

[img]http://odili.net/news/source/2010/dec/5/tribune/images/saka[1].jpg[/img]
Sina Lateef



http://odili.net/news/source/2010/dec/5/607.html


He was arrested recently by the police for stealing a truck at Ijebu-Ode Toll Gate. Sunday Tribune investigation revealed that the suspect is now helping the police to unravel circumstances surrounding some missing trailers in the state.


The suspect told Sunday Tribune in an interview that he was trained as a truck driver and that he has worked in about eight different companies in the last seven years.


"My name is Sina Lateef. I'm 33years old. I'm from Ife, in Osun State. For my primary education, I attended Akinlebe Primary School, Moniya, Ibadan and for my secondary education, I attended Aponmode Secondary School, Moniya, Ibadan. After my secondary school education, I couldn't proceed further due to financial constraints. So, I decided to learn a trade. I learnt driving. I have been driving trucks for about eight years. I have worked in about eight different companies before I got my present job in Ijebu-Ode. I'm a truck driver in the company. My salary is N10,000 per month. I'm married with a child. My wife is in Ilorin, Kwara State. With my wife, I always change jobs due to poor pay."


Sources at the police command told Sunday Tribune that the suspect was one of the truck thieves disturbing truck drivers in Ogun State and its environs. It was learnt that the police had been battling with cases of missing trucks in the state."There has been an upsurge in cases of missing trucks. In some instances, the trucks were hijacked from the driver together with the goods in them," a police source informed.


Sunday Tribune learnt that the suspect has been telling the police the mystery behind some of those missing trucks.


"But, we usually found the trailers after the criminals might have off loaded the content. There were also instances when they hijacked petrol and the vehicles were later abandoned. We have not seen a case where somebody would steal an empty truck from where it was parked. It was a new dimension to crimes in the state," the source told Sunday Tribunezxhjmk,'[