Police recover stolen goods, vandals flee raid

Etim Ekpimah

Operatives of the Akwa Ibom State Police Command have recovered suspected stolen goods and vandalised transformer cables after suspected criminals abandoned their vehicle and fled during a late-night operation in Nsit Ibom Local Government Area.

The operation, carried out on May 12, 2026, at about 11:45 pm, followed credible intelligence about a suspicious vehicle moving around the area under questionable circumstances.

Acting swiftly on the tip-off, police operatives were immediately deployed to the scene. Upon sighting the approaching patrol team at a distance, the vehicle’s occupants reportedly abandoned it and fled into nearby bushes.

Although the operatives pursued the suspects, the suspects escaped under the cover of darkness and difficult terrain.

A thorough search of the abandoned dark green Ford bus with registration number SMK 438 XA Lagos, led to the recovery of 40 containers of 25-litre red oil suspected to have been stolen from a shop, three coils of transformer copper wire believed to have been vandalised from electricity transformers, as well as cutters, spanners and other tools commonly used for vandalism.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the recovered items were allegedly stolen and vandalised from different locations within Nsit Ibom Local Government Area.

The owner of the stolen red oil, identified simply as Mr Sunday, who had discovered his shop had been burgled and was trailing the suspects, later arrived at the police station and identified the recovered items.

Police said the exhibits have been secured, while efforts are ongoing to track down and arrest the fleeing suspects.

The command reaffirmed its commitment to protecting lives and property across the state and urged residents to continue providing timely and useful information to support crime prevention and detection.