By Charles Ayodele.
Some crime suspects paraded by the Ekiti State Police Command claimed they were citizens of Niger Republic but engaged in crimes through the collaboration of their Nigerian ‘colleagues-in-crime’ to terrorize different parts of Ekiti State.
The twenty-nine suspects according to the Command’s Public Relations Officer,PPRO,Sunday Abutu committed crimes ranging from armed robbery,burglary,stealing,kidnapping,oil bunkering,cultism,illegal possession of fire arms and arrest of a herbalist for rape and obtaining money by false pretence..
According to the PPRO, on 05/08/22 at about O1:00he’s,a gang of hoodlums stormed Fayose market,broke into six different shops and carted away numerous items such as handsets laptop computers and phone accessories.” Investigation by the Command’s Rapid Response Squad,RRS,operatives led to the arrest of one Is a Muhammad,Yakubu Ibrahim,abdulweaheed Ismaila,a.k.a. Bigger of Niger Republic and Akinmonrin Ibukun of Ogbomoso,Oyo State,in their criminal hideout in Lagos State. The suspects confessed to the commission of the crime. They also confessed earlier burgled a phone shop in Oye-Ekiti,where they stole many phones,and a store in Ikole-Ekiti,where they carted away many handsets”. The image-maker remarked that the suspects revealed that they met at Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison, Lagos where they hatched their robbery plan.
The Command also arrested one Ajewole Peter,a.k.a.Peter Ifaki, an alleged notorious armed robber,terrorizing Ekiti State. DSP Abutu said other members of the gang had been arrested and are serving different jail terms at Ado-Ekiti Correctional Center. He further said on a credible tip-off the Command operatives arrested one Ayomide Femi, a.k.a. Bafem,Akinola Bode and Kayode Dolapo in their criminal hide out in Ado-Ekiti for conspiracy,burglary and stealing. Items recovered from them include, groceries,cartoons of indomitable noodles cosmetics and other items. On interrogation,the suspects confessed to series of criminal activities including the armed robbery attack on First Bank Plc, Ifaki-Ekiti,which led to the death of a police inspector and an attack on Wema bank, Iyin-Ekiti,and another attack on Maxwell Hospital,Ado-Ekiti, among other areas.
A driver whose Volkswagen Golf 3,was intercepted along Ilawe road,Ado-Ekiti, by the RRS patrol team for conveying 40 jerrycans of 30 liters containing diesel suspected to be product of bunkering, claimed confessed ownership of the diesel,adding that he got it from a bunkering site in Igbokoda,Ondo State.
RRS operatives of the Command also arrested Ali Ibrahim and Abubakar Sidi for alleged kidnapping of one Yinusa Yakubu at Oke-Ako community,Ikole-Ekiti alongside other fleeing suspects on 30/07/2022. It was gathered that the armed hoodlums robbed their victims of #400,000 and later collected a ransom #900,000 from the victim’s family before he was set free.
Ten suspects were arrested for cultism,burglary,stealing,and recovery of one single barrel gun, locally made pistol
and possession offensive weapons.
