From Ngozi Uwujare
The Police Monitoring Unit of the Oyo State Police Command said it has arrested five suspected armed robbers have been hijacking trailers and other vehicles in the area, mostly on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
In one of their operations, they attacked a driver along the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway and hijacked his vehicle loaded with 168, 000 cartons of apples, valued at N2.44 million. The apples were being brought from Losaji Farm Limited, Ijora, Lagos,.
Speaking on the arrests, Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Mr. William Adebowale, told Saturday Sun that operatives of the police monitoring unit were after the hoodlums who specialized in hijacking trailer vehicles along the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway and usually diverted the trailers to an unknown location in Oyo town which is the hideout of the criminal elements.
Mr Adebowale said that the incident happened when one of the suspects, a 43-year-old man identified as Bamgbade Sola, on June 22, 2022 kidnapped the victim, who was travelling to supply apples to customers in Kano.
The police boss said the driver left with his ‘motor boy’ after he loaded the apples into an ash-coloured Peugeot bus with registration number ZAR 844ZQ.
He informed that when the vehicle got to Akinyele area along Oyo Road, Ibadan, it was intercepted by a gang of armed robbers. Bamgbade Sola and his syndicate, who attacked the vehicle, hijacked the vehicle with the goods. The vehicle was emptied and abandoned at Ogere town, Ogun State. But it was later recovered by the driver on June 23, 2022.
“The operatives monitoring unit arrested the suspect, Bamgbade, while the other syndicate members escaped,” the commissioner informed.
The suspect, Bamgbose Sola admitted to the incident in an interaction with the reporter. He told Saturday Sun: “I hail from Oyo State. We are 10 members of our gang and we specialise in hijacking vehicles and trailers along Ibadan/Lagos Expressway. I took the 47 cartons of apples to one Abosede at Challenge area Ibadan for sale. I didn’t know that Abosede that I sold the stolen goods to had contacted the company, Losaji Farm Limited in Lagos and she was informed that their goods had been hijacked. Abosede then went to report the case at the Felele Police Division, Ibadan. The police recovered the 47 cartons from me. We have buyers both in Lagos and Ibadan depending on the kind of goods we hijacked from the trailers or vehicles along Lagos – Ibadan Expressway.
“Our mode of operation s that we do mount roadblocks around 2am with other members of the syndicate. We would then hijack the vehicles on the expressway and take it to Oyo town and start looking for buyers. My other syndicate members had escaped and abandoned the stolen goods,” he said.
The police commissioner, Mr Adebowale also informed Saturday Sun that an armed robbery gang was also busted on June 30, 2022, involving two suspects, Samuel Olaoluwa, 20, and Adegboyega Afeez, 25, who terrorised trailer drivers along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and other roads in Oyo State.
He said the suspects hijacked a Mack trailer conveying a container loaded with animal feeds. They then attacked the driver and also diverted the vehicle to an unknown destination.
He further said that when the case was reported to the Police Monitoring Unit, the operatives quickly swung into action and after an intense manhunt and intelligence gathering, the two suspects; Samuel Olaoluwa and Adegboyega Afeez were arrested in their hideout in Oyo town and one Mack trailer with animal feed was recovered.
Speaking with Saturday Sun, the suspect, Samuel Olaoluwa said: “We’ve been into this act of hijacking trailer drivers for the past five years. We operated as if we were a taskforce on the highway. We first blocked the highway, we didn’t have any ammunitions, but we do bring out cutlasses and order the driver to stop, and they would immediately comply. We would then hijack the trailer to our own hideout in Oyo town to start looking for buyers for the stolen items.”
CP Adebowale explained further that another gang of armed robbers was busted on June 29, 2022, comprising two – Olarewaju Abass, 28, and Musa Khahi, 33, along with other gang members who escaped from the scene.
He said they terrorised students of Ladoke Akintola University ( LAUTECH) and members of the public in Ogbomoso town when they invaded students hostel at Adekunle Area of the community.
He said the armed robbers came with guns, axes and some other dangerous weapons to attack the victims, dispossessing them of their cell phones, cash, laptops and some other valuable items.
He said after learning of the incident, the Police Monitoring Unit operatives then swung into action and after a discreet search, arrested the two suspects and recovered one Beretta pistol, six live ammunitions, one Toyota Venza car with Reg No KJA 71 HJ and six different phones.
He explained that another gang on May 20, 2022 robbed a female victim, Abioye Abigail, a youth corps member who had boarded a car at Iwo Road area of Ibadan to convey her to Ilorin in Kwara State.
He said the three passengers she met in the vehicle she boarded were members of the armed robbery syndicate whose modus operandi is to disguise as driver and passengers with the intent to kidnap and lure unsuspecting members of the public into their vehicle.
He explained that the armed robbers attacked and robbed her in a desolate spot in Moniya, near Oyo town after pointing a gun at the young lady and threatening to kill her. But the victim reportedly raised the alarm and the police operatives were alerted. They thereafter intercepted the two armed robbers. The female victim was also rescued from the hands of the hoodlums.
Speaking with Saturday Sun, one of the suspects, Adeleke Usman said: “We are five members in the gang of armed robbers and we use our vehicle to carry female passengers and used the opportunity to kidnap them and forcefully take their valuable items.
“We kidnapped and robbed a victim, a youth corps member, Abigail Abioye. We collected her mobile phone, N40, 000 and her ATM cards. One of our gang members went to withdraw the money. He took the money away, but the police arrested us,” he said.
The female victim who was robbed and kidnapped, Abigail Abioye said: “I came to do my NYSC in Ibadan. I wanted to board a vehicle at Iwo Road and I didn’t know that the three passengers and driver were armed robbers. They pointed a gun at me and collected N40, 000, my cell phone and ATM card through which they withdrew my money. It was when I couldn’t bear it any longer that I raised the alarm for help and alerted the people. Later, the policemen intercepted them and arrested them,” she said.
The commissioner, CP Adebowale, said operatives of the command were going after the suspects who have remained at large, while the arrested suspects would soon be charged to court.