Lagos State Police Command has arrested and paraded the publisher of Biafra Times and nine others for allegedly publishing and circulating seditious and malicious publication.

According to the command, five hundred and fifteen copies of the offending newspaper were recovered during a raid on the printing press in Shomolu, Lagos.

Parading the ten suspects, Police Commissioner, Fatai Owoseni, said the printing press had been shut and the environment was being monitored, saying this was an offence punishable under the Criminal Law of Lagos State.

Owoseni said the suspects would be charged to court as soon as detectives finished interrogating them.

The arrested publisher, however, told journalists that he had no intention to promote disunity and disharmony among Nigerians.

The prime suspect said he had been publishing for the past eight years but only specialised in Biafra Times three months ago.

In another development, Owoseni told journalists that the command was aware of a proposed demonstration which popular artiste, Tuface Idibia planned to lead.

He said the command was yet to be officially notified and assured that the police would not allow unscrupulous elements to hijack the protest.

Also, Operatives attached to the State Criminal Investigation Division of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested a thirteen man gang specialising in diverting goods sent through them to transport to customers.

The gang led by a haulage contractor, Nduka Okoli allegedly diverted about seven hundred bags of rice worth about thirty million naira which were supposed to be delivered to customers in Warri, Delta State.

Okoli who confessed to the crime said he was a transporter and had been in the business for five years with nine trucks used in perpetuating the crime.

Parading the suspects before newsmen, Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni said the gang had been in the business of diverting goods sent through them to transport to customers to another location to sell.

He advised the general public who might have contracted the syndicate in the past and whose goods were diverted to contact the command to help in its investigation into the syndicate activities.

Meanwhile, a 23-year-old Celestine Chimaobi arrested by the police in Lagos for allegedly kidnapping an eight-year-old boy, Emeka Chukwuyere, at Alafia in Orile Iganmu.

Chimaobi, who said he picked the boy from his boss house, said he kept him for four days at a hotel where he worked as a cleaner.

The suspect who was paraded alongside his friend, Emmanuel Blessing, 20, exonerated the latter from the crime, insisting he knew nothing about it.

Continuing, the suspect said he was caught at Apapa Road, Oyingbo, after he went to the bank with the hope that the N5million he demanded has been paid.

Police Commissioner, Fatai Owoseni, said a team of policemen from the Anti-Kidnapping Unit was detailed on the case and they discovered the suspects on their way to the bank.

He said: “After we received the complaint, policemen were detailed to investigate the case. During the investigation, the team discovered that the suspects were on their way to the bank to collect the ransom money.
They were arrested while on their way to the bank.