Operatives of Ogun Police Command have arrested two armed robbery suspects while they were operating at Sagamu interchange area of Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
A police corporal was also reportedly shot in the leg when the hoodlums engaged security operatives in a gun battle.
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The Police Spokesman, Abimbola Oyeyemi, told newsmen on Sunday in Abeokuta, Ogun State, that the suspects were caught in action in the early hours of Saturday.
Oyeyemi said the two suspects, Solomon Aghofure, 30, and Emmanuel Mathew, 37, were arrested when the police patrol team of Sagamu division were on routine patrol of the expressway at about 1:30 am.
According to him, the suspects and their gang who already positioned themselves at the interchange in readiness for attack on the commuters plying the road opened fire on the patrol team, led by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Okiki Agunbiade.
He said the team engaged them in a shootout at the end of which one of them sustained gunshot injuries and was subsequently apprehended.
“Other members of the gang escaped into the bush abandoning their operational vehicle. The bush was thoroughly combed from where the other suspect was also arrested.
“A police corporal on the team also sustained gunshot injuries on his leg and was taken to a hospital for treatment,” Oyeyemi said.
The police spokesman also explained that during the interrogation, the suspects informed the police that they were a five-member gang; three had escaped.
Meanwhile, operatives of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team in Bayelsa State Police Command have arrested three wanted robbery gang members in the state masquerading as task force members, who were at large after some of their gang members were arrested last week for kidnapping and robbing a civil servant.
The SWAT operatives in collaboration with Bayelsa Vigilante Force had at the weekend arrested Engman Eniyi from Sangana community in Brass Local Government Area and Ebimobowe Tombofa from Igbenwari in Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area all in Bayelsa State for abducting a civil servant, Mrs Judith Adoga, and forcefully withdrawing money from her account using her ATM card.
According to the police spokesman in Bayelsa State, SP Asinim Butswat, Mokubo Sorgwe, 37, Preye Daniel Agamene, 34, and Lucky Okwengo, 30, who were on the run were arrested on Sunday after the earlier arrested gang members led the operatives to their hideout at Gbarain, Yenagoa.
“It will be recalled that on 25 February, 2021, two suspects namely; Headman Eniyi and Ebi Tonbofa masquerading as members of State Environmental Task Force, were arrested for armed robbery and kidnapping. Today, 28 February, 2021, at about 03: 15pm, these suspects led SWAT operatives to their hideout at Gbarain community, Yenagoa, where the other members of the notorious gang were arrested.
“The suspects have since confessed to the crime and will be charged to court at the conclusion of investigation.
“The police command requests victims of this devilish gang to report to police headquarters, Yenagoa, for possible identification of the suspects and recovery of their stolen items,” he said.
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