Barely 24 hours after two members of a kidnap syndicate were neutralised in Itori area of Ewekoro Local Government Area, men of Ogun State Police Command have gunned down another member of a kidnap syndicate while one was arrested at Ilala forest in Imala area of Abeokuta North Local Government Area.
Disclosing this on Tuesday, August 31, 2021, the command’s Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said that the gun battle between the police and the kidnappers ensued after the cops at Imala divisional headquarters got information that six armed kidnappers were sighted in the forest.
The Divisional Police Officer in charge of Imala Division, CSP Bernard Ediagbonya, while acting on the information, had promptly mobilized his men, local hunters, vigilante men, So Safe Corps and some Fulani youths and stormed the forest.
“On getting to the scene, the hoodlums, who sighted the team from afar, opened fire on them, and the team engaged them in gun duel. In the process, one of the hoodlums was gunned down, while another one who identified himself as Usman Maidama was arrested. Other members of the gang escaped into the bush with gunshot injuries.
“Recovered from them are one single barrel gun, one face mask and two pairs of sandals,” the PPRO stated.
He noted that the command’s onslaught operations against bandits had been yielding positive results, with four AK-47 rifles recovered from them within the last three weeks, while some of the bandits had been killed during exchange of gunfire with the police.
Oyeyemi stated further that the state Commissioner of Police, Edward Awolowo Ajogun, who expressed satisfaction with the consistent fight against criminals by men of the command, ordered the transfer of the case to the anti-kidnapping unit of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for discreet investigation.
The police commissioner assured the people of the state that the clampdown on hoodlums in every part of the state would be a continuous exercise.
He also directed that the escaped members of the gang be hunted for and brought to justice as soon as possible.
