A 32-year-old Sani Saidu is now with the Lagos State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, Yaba, Lagos over the stabbing of his boss, Shittu Aremu to death.
Shittu Aremu, a truck driver was allegedly killed by Sani Saidu while he was accompanying him to Port Harcourt, Rivers State to make delivery of 40,000 litres of petroleum products.
According to Vanguard, the late Aremu whose age was put around 56 years, was a
driver to S.K Transport Service Nigeria Limited . He reportedly loaded the
truck with plate number AGL 368 XA with aviation fuel worth N5.5 million and consequently
left Lagos for Port Harcourt on November 13, 2014, to discharge the product. But before leaving Lagos State, he was said
to have invited Saidu to work with him as his motor boy, with a promise to pay
him an undisclosed amount at the end of the trip. But little did he realize
that the invitation would end his life.
The first sign that signalled an unpalatable situation for
the truck driver, followed difficulty by his employee to reach him on his
mobile phone, two days after he embarked on the journey. Further checks from the tracking device on
the truck reportedly showed that the truck had been diverted from its original
route to somewhere around Mutum Biu, in Taraba state.
Suspecting that the driver had a sinister motive up his
sleeve , the company reportedly lodged a complaint at the State Criminal
Investigation Department SCID, Yaba, where detectives swung into action by
travelling to Taraba state. Fortunately for them, the truck was recovered at
the Taraba state Police Command, with only Saidu, the motor boy.
Preliminary investigation as gathered , revealed that Saidu
allegedly murdered the truck driver before diverting the truck to the northern
part of the country.
In this interview, Saidu gave a graphic description of how
he stabbed his master with a knife and threw him out of the truck , before
taking over the steering. Asked what
made him carry out such dastardly act, Saidu replied : “ I killed Mr Aremu
because I wanted to sell the aviation fuel and use the money to travel to Dubai
on a business trip.”
Narrating how he snuffed life out of Aremu whom he fondly
called baba Oyo, Saidu said: “ A day
after we left Lagos, at about 6pm, the company called baba Oyo and instructed
him to park at Umunede, Delta state for security reason and that he should
proceed on the journey the following day.
While there , I bought a knife without him knowing and tied
it with a rope on my leg. Very early the third day, baba Oyo started the
ignition to continue the journey. As he was about to move, I told him that one
of the tyres had developed a fault. I came out of the vehicle and pretended to
be checking the tyres. I went to his side of the truck, bent down as if
checking the tyres and in the process, I brought out my knife. But as I raised
my hand to stab him, he held my hand and we started struggling, in the process
of which the knife cut me on the index finger.
I succeeded in stabbing him first on the lap and blood
started gushing out. Again, I stabbed him again in the stomach, leaving the
knife in there. By then he was too weak to shout. Thereafter, I pushed him out of the vehicle
and mounted the driver’s seat and zoomed off.
I diverted the truck to the north. My intention was to take the aviation fuel to
Taraba state and sell it at the black market. When I got to Adamawa state, I
sold four drums, at the rate of N28,000 per drum. On reaching Katsina , the
truck developed a fault and I ended up spending N57,000 to fix it. I continued
the journey but on reaching Mutum Biu, I was stopped by some soldiers who were
on a joint operation with the Police, at a check point. They demanded for the
way bill and I showed them. But one of the policemen asked where the plate
number was and I brought it out from where I kept it. I had earlier removed it
because the company’s number was inscribed on it. When the policemen dialled
the telephone number, they discovered that the vehicle was supposed to be
heading for Port Harcourt. When they asked what it was doing at Taraba, I could
not provide a ready answer and I was subsequently apprehended”
The father of five said, “I did what I did in order to raise N150,000
for a ticket to Dubai. A friend of mine who lives in Kano usually travels to
Dubai to buy handsets and sell in Kano. He told me he would take me down if I
could raise N150,000. That was why I did what I did. But with the look of
things, it is obvious that I am in a big trouble and may never come out from it
for the rest of my life”, he stated remorsefully.
Information at Crime Guard’s disposal revealed that
operatives at the SCID would be leaving Lagos for Umunede in Delta state, to
inspect the spot where the suspect claimed to have thrown Aremu’s body, with a
view to ascertaining whether he is alive or not. Police sources however hinted that the
driver’s seat of the recovered truck was stained with blood, adding that at the
end of investigation, the suspect would be charged to court for murder and
stealing.
Source: Vanguard
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