It was the end of the road for 29-year-old Ashiwobel Joseph, a National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, member, who had been transporting arms from Calabar, the Cross River State capital, to Lagos, following his arrest by the Lagos State Police Command.
Ashiwobel Joseph, a graduate of Biology Education from the Federal University of Agriculture, Markurdi, Benue State, was taking his mandatory service in Lagos state at the time of his arrest, said a man named Snatcher introduced him to the “business”.
Investigation revealed that the suspect would conceal the arms inside foodstuff before taking them to a transport company that would convey them to Lagos, from where his accomplice who would be waiting at the park would pick them up.
But luck ran against him when the bag containing the arms was mistakenly handed over to one Aji Augustine, a resident of Ibeju, Lekki, Lagos.
Augustine explained: “I sent money to my mother to buy foodstuff from our village in Obudu, Cross River. On the agreed date, I went to the park and was given two bags filled with foodstuff. On reaching the house, my wife started unpacking the products.
“She had finished unpacking the first bag but when she opened the second bag, she noticed a brown cartoon that was heavy and sealed. The cartoon was squeezed in between tubers of yam. By the time she opened it, she screamed at the sight of the guns.”
Shuddering in fear, he said he contacted his mother in Cross River State to ascertain the content of the bag, only to discover he had mistakenly taken another person’s bag.
On his way to the police station, he said the driver of the vehicle called several times to inform him that the driver gave him the wrong bag. The driver of the vehicle was subsequently apprehended.
Joseph and Snatcher reportedly went into hiding when they got wind of the driver’s arrest.
When the information reached the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command, Abiodun Alabi, he ordered operatives of the CP Special Squad to track down the fleeing suspects, consequent upon which Joseph was arrested some days after.
Source: The Vanguard