A 33-year-old suspected armed robber, Akeem Owonikoko, has alleged that a police inspector, identified simply as Ola, supplied him and other gang members with guns, the Ogun State Police Command said on Sunday.
Owonikoko was apprehended along the Sagamu-Ijebu-Ode expressway during a sting operation conducted by the Area Commander for Ijebu Ode, ACP Omosanyi Adeniyi, according to a statement by the Police Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola.
The culprit, who is believed to have terrorised residents of the Obalende area in Ijebu Ode, was spotted at 12:30 a.m. in a Toyota Camry travelling towards Ijebu-Ode from Ososa Ijebu.
On sighting the police team, the suspect and other members of his gang reportedly diverted their car away from the expressway, fleeing into the bush and later abandoning the car.
Owonikoko who allegedly dressed in disguise as a member of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria was thereafter arrested during a search of the area.
Searching the bags abandoned in the vehicle, the police said items recovered from the bags included 32 expended cartridges, 78 live cartridges and a locally fabricated short gun.
Others allegedly found in his residence when searched were a magnum pump action rifle, a double-barrel shotgun, one locally fabricated double-barrel pistol, a stunt pistol choker, an unregistered silver Toyota Camry, a green Toyota Sienna Bus (KNN 58 TD – OGUN), a black beret with the insigma of Aiye Confraternity, phones, and hard drugs, among others.
Similarly, one Sunday Dosunmu, 53, who was recently released from prison, was said to have been rearrested on Saturday around Leme, Abeokuta, while attempting to steal a car with his specially made fabricated key.
The Divisional Police Officer of Kemta, Abeokuta, CSP Adeniyi Adekunle, was said to have arrested Dosunmu on September 17, 2022, in the Olorunsogo area of Abeokuta while the suspect was trying to steal a car from a park along with his syndicate and was thereafter sent to jail.
The suspect was said to have been caught again by youths in that area, using fabricated master keys to unlock some cars within that area.
People who saw him were said to have raised the alarm, though he was said to have taken to his heels but the youths of the area caught up with him and handed him over to the police.
Two fabricated master keys were said to have been found in his possession, which were the instruments he was reportedly using to unlock cars and drive them away.
While lauding his officers for the crackdown on criminal elements in society, the Commissioner of Police in the state, CP Abiodun Alamutu, disclosed that the suspects would soon be in court to answer for their misdemeanours.