The Commissioner of Police in Oyo State Command, Joe Nwachukwu Enwonwu, has warned motorcyclists, tricyclists, traders and artisans that anyone found committing acts of brigandage and carnage to police personnel and facilities will be made to face the law.
The police commissioner gave the warning at the weekend, in a statement issued by the state Police Public Relations Officer , SP Olugbenga Fadeyi on Sunday, November 29, 2020.
Enwonwu, who said that the command had observed and evaluated the killing and burning of policemen, as well as vandalism of facilities during the EndSARS protests, had had a meeting with the leaders of various motorcycle and tricycle riders’ associations in the state, to discourage them from taking laws into their hands.
He said that the meeting, which was a symposium, was to entreat leaders of the associations to talk to their members, to discourage them from taking laws into their hands.
The police commissioner however stated that instead of ensuring that breakdown of law and order is reduced among the cyclists, intelligence gathering had revealed that the first and the oldest colonial police station in Western Region of Nigeria, Idi Ogungun Division, built in 1929, and which stood as a monumental site, as well as Agodi police post, were burnt and vandalized respectively on November 24.
The destruction was said to be as a result of the altercation between officials of the Nigeria Correctional Service and commercial motorcyclists who ply routes from Agodi Bus Stop in Ibadan, and which had nothing to do with the police.
This was said to have been in spite of all efforts by policemen, who were on ground, to preserve law and order, the PPRO quoted Enwonwu to have said.
The state police boss said that the command’s personnel were in no way connected to the feud that occurred.
The police commissioner however assured law abiding people of the state that effort to bring normalcy to the security of the state was being put into effect, as he added: “no cause for alarm.”
He also urged the state residents to collaborate with the police and give credible information that could lead to the apprehension of criminal elements before crime is committed.
Enwonwu stated further that maximum security measures had been placed “in nooks and crannies within and outside Ibadan metropolis, to ensure hitch-free celebration during this Yuletide period and beyond.”
