Nigerian box robbers pose as cops, sedate truckers, drive away loads

CONTAINER truckers in Nigeria are facing growing incidents of robbery in which assailants appear in military uniforms and official-looking cars with sirens, then "arrest" and sedate victims before driving off their container trucks to pre-arranged buyers, reports the Lagos Vanguard.

Robbers typically operated from Hilux Jeeps with tinted glasses and siren blaring, said the newspaper. Unsuspecting drivers usually accept them as police.

They then present a warrant of arrest and bundle the drivers and helpers into their jeeps, where they inject them with knock-out sedatives. Victims are then dumped by the roadside to sleep it off.

"We were surprised with their new modus operandi. It is unusual in this part of the world for criminals to use sedatives on operations like this," said Lagos police commissioner Jubril Adele.

The Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FEDSARS) recently arrested a 38-year-old Emeka Ikenga, allegedly attached to one of the container robbing gangs.

The suspect and other members of his gang allegedly hijacked an FEU, conveying goods worth over NGN11 million (US$71,430), then diverting them to a pre-arranged customers in faraway Onitsha, Anambra State.

Police say the gang leader recruits young men, including soldiers, and takes them to a shrine for oath-taking. "In the past three years, we've smashed over three sets of this gang, arresting five soldiers," said a police source who did not wish to be identified.
(Source:www.schednet.com)