The Police Command in Osun State said on Monday it had arrested 20 suspects between November 2023 and February 2024 for various offences, including cable theft, armed robbery, kidnapping, and membership in a secret society.
Hope Okafor, the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Administration who paraded the suspects at the Police Command Headquarters in Osogbo, said six of the suspects were arrested for armed robbery.
“They also kidnapped one of their victims and altered the IMEIs of stolen phones to evade police tracking,” she said.
Okafor identified the six suspects as Seyi Ojo, 33; Kamorudeen Quadri, 32; Ogbemudia Sunday, 48; Fatai Toheeb, 22; David Adebayo, 43; and David Aderemi, 30.
She said Ojo and Quadri were part of a gang that robbed a family at Ijebu Jesa on November 31, 2023, and after their arrest, investigations revealed that they also took part in robbing and kidnapping one Sarah Olomolatan of Araromi Street, Erin-Ijesa, on December 7, 2023.
The police chief said that the investigation further revealed that Sunday Ogbemudia received two vehicles, a Toyota Corolla and Highlander, from the suspects, while the duo of David Adebayo and David Aderemi helped the suspects change the IMEIs of the stolen phones.
She said Toheeb was also arrested after both Ojo and Quadri fingered him for complicity in the robbery and kidnapping of Olomolatan. Ayodele Kehinde, 39, a suspect arrested on November 31 at Yidi Area, Ilesa Osun, for snatching motorcycles at gunpoint, equally implicated Ojo as one of his gang members.
“He confessed to the fact that himself, Seyi Ojo, and two others, who are currently at large, were the ones terrorising the area and that they had snatched four motorcycles, which they sold to one Olalekan Musiliu,” Okafor said.
She further said that four other suspects were also arrested for being members of the Eiye Confraternity, while another suspect was arrested for stealing electricity cables from an ongoing building project in Osogbo.
According to her, a robbery suspect who was shot while his gang members were attempting to rob the Steel Rolling Company, Osogbo, was arrested while seeking medical attention to treat the injury sustained from the gunshot.
“On Wednesday, at about 1 am a team of police anti-kidnapping operatives intercepted a four-man gang of suspected car thieves on Osunjela Ilesha Road while they were en route to Kabba, Kogi State, to sell the stolen cars,” DCP Okafor disclosed.
She said that preliminary interrogation revealed that the suspects operated under the guise of being gearbox mechanics and subsequently stole their unsuspecting customers’ cars.
DCP Okafor avowed that four cars were recovered from the suspects and called on residents whose property was among those recovered to come to the command with evidence, to claim them.
All the suspects, according to her, will be charged in court after the completion of the investigation.
Police arrest robbery gang, car thieves in Osun
