Accounting student, soldiers, air force held for stealing N100m solar panel

Three serving soldiers, a dismissed air force officer, a final year Accounting student and seven people had been arrested for allegedly stealing government solar panels and telecommunication provider valued N100million.

According to the police, the suspects had been on their wanted list for long, before their eventual arrest at the Epe area of Lagos State.
The suspects are Samuel Ani 30, Michael Omoregbe 30, Efosa Philip 27, IfeDayo Odufoye 35, dismissed air- force officer, Chibize Nnamani 34, Festus Maduka 26, John Nwokeoma 31, Michael Chukwudike and Chibuzor Chukwu 23.
The three soldiers, whose identities police refused to declare, had already been handed over to 9th Bridge of the Nigerian Army for proper investigation.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr Imohimi Edgal, said that the suspects belonged to a group which specialised in vandalising government and privates properties in order to sell them.
According to Imohimi, the suspects have vandalized some solar panels at Epe, Sangotedo, Elerngbe and Badagry area of the state.
Imohimi further said: “On September 5, around 2am, the seven suspects came with a truck marked LND 61 XQ and invaded Okemagba Senior Secondary School, Epe with three soldiers. They stole 71 solar panels. They also forced the door of the container, where the inverter batteries and accessories were kept and went away with them.”
Imohimi said that some of the buyers were traced to Delta, Anambra and Imo states. One of the buyers, Maduka, who was picked up in a hotel, confessed to have received solar panels and inverters batteries from the suspects.
The dismissed air force officer, Odufaye, said that he was dismissed by his second in command in Maiduguri, where they were fighting Boko Haram members.
He explained that he was asked to arrest someone, but refused. He was court martialled and dismissed.
His words: “After I was dismissed from the air force, I bought a Siena bus from my savings. I came to Lagos from Kaduna State to work when I was contacted by Michael. He said that I should help them pick some goods at Badagry. I charged them N150, 000, but I was later paid N100, 000. I have also assisted them to take solar panels from Ajah to army arena at Oshodi, where they sold them to a buyer. Unfortunately, there was a day I ran away with some of the panels after they refused to pay me. It was greed that got me into this trouble.”
The alleged leader of the gang, Ani, said it was a friend that introduced him into the business.
He said: “Since I joined that my friend two years ago, I cannot go back to my transport business. There was no much money in the transportation business. I started my operation from Badagry area; we also target some of the schools where there is security guard.  We got the solar panels and the batteries from different part of the state. I got interested in the business after my friend, Ijeoma, told me how they make money from it.”
Odufaye said that ever since he had been doing the business, he had never thought of its consequences. He confessed that the gang sells solar panel for N25, 000, while batteries go for N10, 000 each. He claimed to have made N6million from the business.
He added that: “I have also removed panels from Telecommunication Company. The person that used to buy the solar from me knew I was into robbery and that the goods were stolen.”
Chukwudike, a final year student of Education Accounting, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State, said he introduced the driver to the gang.
Chukwudike said: “One day Samuel told me that he needed a driver to assist him pick some goods at Badagry that was how I brought in Odufaye. I have not followed them to any operation before. I borrowed money from Samuel, I wanted to refund him, so I called him, and he asked me to meet him at Epe. When got there, I saw some vigilante men beating him. I tried to intervene and was arrested and labeled a member of a robbery gang.”