Police arrest drivers, others for diverting wheat for IDPs

The Nigeria Police Force has arrested five suspects in connection with the diversion of bags of wheat belonging to the United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP), and recovery of about 1,238 bags of wheat in Port Harcourt.

The 1,840 bags of wheat which were to be transported from Ibeto Port Terminal, Port Harcourt, to an Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp located in Kano State were fraudulently diverted by the drivers tasked with this assignment, alongside their accomplices, who were intercepted and apprehended by the operatives of the Nigeria Police attached to the Eastern Port Command.

The Force spokesman, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, in a statement on Sunday, February 18, 2024. Stated that the operatives made an arrest of five suspects namely Umar Hashim, Edidiong Umoh, Udah Stanley, Abubakar Jariri and Yunusa Babangida, and recovered 1,238 stolen bags of wheat along with the truck and a bus used in carrying out the crime.

The recovered bags of wheat have been returned to the World Food Programme, and efforts are in top gear to recover the missing 602 bags of wheat and arrest the other suspects associated with the crime.

Adejobi said that the Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun has re-emphasized the goal of the Nigeria Police to ensure that individuals engaged in activities aimed at sabotaging the economy and entrenching hardships among the vulnerable members of the public are dealt with in line with extant laws.

The IGP has ordered that the suspects be charged to court upon conclusion of investigations and tying of all lose ends.

The Star