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•As police give them bloody nose
By Henry Umahi
On March 13, 2023, operatives of the Ogun State Police Command arrested three members of a robbery syndicate that made life unpleasant for residents of Ewekoro and environs for sometime.
The suspects, Ahmed Isiaha, Sunday Ajibola and Jimoh Wahab, were arrested following a distress call received at Ewekoro divisional headquarters that a four-man robbery gang raided Apomu community in Ewekoro Local Government Area of the state, dispossessing members of the community of their belongings.
The divisional police officer, Ewekoro division, Jacob Olayemi, a chief superintendent of police, quickly mobilised his patrol team and moved to the scene.
In a statement, the police public relations officer in the state, Abombola Oyeyemi, said: “On sighting the policemen, the hoodlums took to their heels but they were hotly chased and, with assistance from members of the community, three among the hoodlums were arrested.
“Recovered from them were: one locally fabricated double-barrel pistol, five live cartridges, one expended cartridge, one Bajaj motorcycle with registration number TTN 975 VU, one TVS motorcycle with registration number JBD 353 W and some criminal charms.”
Oyeyemi added that the commissioner of police in the state, Frank Mba, has directed that the suspects be transferred to State Criminal Investigation Department for investigation.
Two days earlier, on Saturday, March 11, police operatives from the state arrested a 33-year-old woman, Ifeoma Ossai, for allegedly causing the death of her 50-year-old landlord, Monday Surulere Oladele.
In a statement, Oyeyemi disclosed that Ossai, a single mother, grabbed her landlord’s private parts and dragged him along with it, causing him to fall to the ground. The police said the victim was rushed in an unconscious state to the Ota General Hospital, where the doctor on duty confirmed him dead.
According to Oyeyemi, on interrogation, Ossai claimed that the deceased asked her to pay her electricity bill, but she insisted that she would not pay for electricity or any other utility bill until water was directly connected to her apartment as promised by the landlord before she packed into her apartment.
Oyeyemi said it was the scuffle over the utility bill between the landlord and Ossai that led to him slumping and being rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He also said the body of the late landlord has been deposited at the hospital’s mortuary for postmortem examination.
The police spokesperson further disclosed that the state’s commissioner of police, Mba, has ordered the immediate transfer of the suspect to the homicide section of the State Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation and diligent prosecution.
Similarly, 60-year-old Oshole Fayemi, Osemi Adesanya, 39, Ismaila Seidu, 30, Oseni Oluwasegun, 69, and Lawal Olaiya, 50, are in hot soup. They were accused of making a living from exhuming and dismembering dead bodies whose parts they sold to those in the business of money-making rituals.
According to Oyeyemi, the gang, “responsible for a series of corpse exhumations within Ososa community, were planning to carry out another round of human parts harvest on Saturday, March 11, somewhere within the town, when the bubble burst.”
He said, upon information on the planned move, the DPO, Odogbolu Division, CSP Godwin Idehai, mobilized his men and stormed the suspects’ hideout, where five of them were apprehended.
“On interrogation, the suspects made confessional statements that they were actually into the business of exhuming corpses from graves, and that they used to sell parts of such corpses to their standby buyers who needed them for money-making rituals.”
Meanwhile, Mba has directed that the suspects be transferred to SCID for investigation and possible prosecution.
Indeed, it has not been business as usual for criminal elements in Ogun State since the coming of Mba as commissioner of police a few weeks ago. The command has not given any breathing space to men of the underworld and sundry criminals. The operatives have adopted winning ways.
A journalist, Oduneye Olusegun, ran into kidnappers in his Toyota Camry car at Mobalufon, Ijebu-Ode, about 7:50pm, on March 9. The following morning, the kidnappers called the victim’s wife with his phone and demanded N30 million ransom.
Upon receipt of the report, Mba directed the DPO, Obalende divisional headquarters, Murphy Salami, a superintendent of police, under whose jurisdiction the incident happened, to go all out for the kidnappers and ensure safe rescue of the journalist.
Oyeyemi stated that the DPO mobilized his detectives and embarked on a technical and intelligence-based investigation, tracing the victim’s car to the Idimu area of Lagos, “where the kidnappers were hibernating, waiting for the ransom.”
“On sighting the policemen, the hoodlums engaged them in a shootout, which lasted for about 45 minutes, before they abandoned the car and took to their heels with varying degrees of gunshot injuries.”
One of Mba’s early achievements was the arrest of all those directly or indirectly involved in the murder of Mr. and Mrs. Fatinoye and their only son, Oreoluwa. On February 13, two suspects who bought the stolen car of the deceased were nabbed.
According to Oyeyemi, the two suspects, Azeez Usman and Owolaja Aanuoluwapo, were arrested at different locations in the state following the confession of the earlier arrested suspects who informed the police that the car was sold to Azeez Usman for N150,000.
Oyeyemi said: “After killing the couple, the suspects got hold of their son Oreoluwa and their adopted child, Felix Olorunyomi, tied them with ropes and put them in the boot of the Hyundai car with which they drove them to Ogun River bridge at Adigbe area, where they threw them into the river.
“The suspects later parked the car somewhere in Oke Ata area of Abeokuta, but later contacted Owolaja Aanuoluwapo, who went there and drove the vehicle to Azeez Usman’s workshop, where the car was butchered into pieces and sold in parts.
“Police investigation revealed that the two suspects were duly informed that the car was stolen, but they went ahead and bought it at the rate of N150,000.”
The command had earlier arrested three suspects in connection with the murder of the Fatinoyes at their residence in Ibara, Abeokuta, on December 31, 2022.
The suspects were identified as Lekan Adekanbi, Ahmed Odetola Akamo and Waheed Adeniji.
“Upon the report of the dastardly act, the commissioner of police directed the homicide section of the SCID to take over the case and ensure that the culprits were brought to justice,” Oyeyemi said.
Investigation revealed that residents of Ogun State are excited over the renewed vigour with which operatives of the command are fighting crime and criminality.
A resident of Ewekoro, Abimbola Ade, said: “We are grateful that the situation of our state is changing in terms of security improvement. He hope that it will be sustained.”
