Three men have been arrested by men of the Ogun State police command during a robbery operation in the Iju area of Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area.
According to the police, the suspects are “members of a robbery gang who have been terrorising Iju-Ota and its environs for some time”.
The suspects are identified as Bamidele Oluwashina, 31; Adebowale Kehinde, 32; and Oluwasegun Abayomi.
Abimbola Oyeyemi, Ogun State police public relations officers, in a statement on Sunday said the trio were arrested following a distress call received by the police at Onipanu divisional headquarters around 9:30p.m.
According to Oyeyemi, police were informed that robbers had invaded Iju Love Bus Stop and tipper garage, wielding dangerous weapons and dispossessing people of their valuables.
Upon the distress call, the Divisional Police Officer of Onipanu Division, Chief Superintendent of Police, Bamidele Ishola Job, was said to have mobilized his patrol team to the scene and engaged the robbers in a gun duel.
The PPRO expressed;
Having realised the superior fire power of the police, the hoodlums took to their heels but one of them was arrested at the scene. The entire area was cordoned off while police intensified search for other members of the gang with the help of members of the community. Two other members of the gang were sighted trying to escape in a tricycle but were promptly arrested.
A victim, one Tosin Ajayi, who was macheted on the head by the robbers, was taken to the hospital by the police for medical treatment. One locally made pistol and two live cartridges were recovered from them.
The Command’s Commissioner, Edward Awolowo Ajogun, has ordered the transfer of the suspects to State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for discreet investigation.
Oyeyemi also stated that Ajogun appealed to the general public not to allow cultism to fester in their area as cultists were associated with all forms of violent crime.
He also assured the people of the state that the Command’s Violent Crime Intervention Squad was battle ready to combat any violent crime across the state.
