Two men have been nabbed by men of the Niger State Police Command with no fewer than sixteen bags of suspected Indian hemp.
NIGERIACRIME gathered that the suspects had attempted to ferry the illicit product to Ndayako village in Mokwa Local Government Area of the state.
Confirming this development in a statement made available to newsmen in the state on Sunday, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Wasiu Abiodun, identified the suspects as Auta Umar Saidu, 25, Mohammed Bala, 52, both of Mokwa.
Abiodun said the suspects were arrested on September 6, 2023, based on credible intelligence received, by police operatives attached to Mokwa Division.
According to him, “The said Auta was intercepted and arrested at Muwo village during an attempt to ferry 16 bags of suspected Indian hemp to Ndayako village.
“During interrogation, Auta confessed that he was sent by Bala to receive the bags from one Lawali, who brought the items from Ondo State.”
He explained that Bala was later arrested and both confessed that the bags were for sale, and they have been in this business together for almost eight months.
The suspects have been transferred to SCID Minna and they have been arraigned in court for prosecution.
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Meanwhile, no fewer than five people were confirmed dead on Sunday while 12 others sustained varying degrees of injuries in an accident near the Foursquare Camp on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
Mrs Florence Okpe, the Public Education Officer of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Ogun, confirmed the development in an interview with newsmen in Abeokuta.
Okpe explained that the accident involved a DAF truck marked, KMC 810 ZB, a Toyota bus marked, TMA-244b XA and a Mitsubishi pickup van with no registration number.
The FRSC spokeswoman said the accident occured at about 6:15 a.m. and was caused by excessive speeding, tyre blowout and loss of control on the part of the driver of the truck.
She noted that due to the tyre blowout and loss of control, the truck fell and blocked the road, noting that both the bus and the pickup van rammed into the fallen truck.
Okpe disclosed that 21 people were involved in the multiple crash, saying that 12 people were injured while five people died.
She stated that the injured people were taken to Victory Hospital in Ogere, near Abeokuta for medical attention while the dead were deposited at a morgue in Ipara community, near Abeokuta.
Okpe quoted the Ogun State Sector Commander of the FRSC, Mr Anthony Uga, as advising motorists to desist from using sub-standard tyres and to also apply common sense while driving in this rainy season.
The sector commander sympathised with families of the victims, advising them to visit the Ogunmakin Unit of the FRSC for more information on the accident.