TRACKING_____ABEOKUTA– Ogun State Police Command, Sunday, paraded no fewer than 150 suspects arrested in connection with the alleged robberies and unrest in some parts of Ifo and Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Areas of the state.
There have been reports of increased armed robberies and banditry by residents of Owode, Ilepa, Ifo, Arigbajo, Itori, Dalemo, Ijoko, Joju, Sango, Ota, Ifo, Agbado-Ijaiye among other communities in Ifo and Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Areas of the state since the lockdown occasioned by global pandemic of Coronavirus.
Kenneth Ebrimson, the Police Commissioner in the State, Sunday, conducted journalists round the troubled areas after he paraded 150 suspects arrested in most of the affected areas.
Addressing newsmen during the parade held at Ifo Divisional Police Station, Ebrimson refuted the report that armed robbers had taken over some parts of Ifo and Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Areas of the state as being reported in social media.
Ebrimson said there was no report of robbery to the command by anyone in the troubled areas.
The Commissioner of Police said it was a case of cult clashes among seven rival groups within the areas as a result of the killing of one of them.
Ebrimson said upon the information about the clashes , the command swang into action and made some arrests .
He added that the command had deployed men from Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Anti-Cultism unit, Anti-Kidnapping unit, Special forces and conventional policemen who were drawn from the Area command in Ifo and Ota.
Ebrimson explained that his men smoked the suspected criminals out of their hideouts and recovered various weapons.
According to him, eight locally made guns, 52 live catridges, eight knives, 12 handsets, two scissors, large quantity of weeds, several cutlasses, one axe and saw were recovered from the hoodlums.
The Police boss said the unrest was caused by seven cult groups which included Ilena boys, Federal boys, Lemon boys, base boys, Sahara boys, Gbese boys and Marindoti boys.
He said, “The Genesis of this was from some criminal gangs that engaged in supremacy battle in Ifo and spread to Ado-Odo/Ota local government area of the state, it started on April 4, and the command tactical operation arrested some hoodlums and ammunitions.
“I want to say that there was no single case of armed robbery, no case of kidnapping has been reported. Nobody has been killed.”
“The basic issue is cultism that emanated from the killing of one of them in Ifo and spread to Sango, Ijoko and Agbado.”
Meanwhile, the Governor of Ogun State Dapo Abiodun, has vowed to deal ruthlessly with criminals in the state.
The governor in a statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary, Kunle Somorin said: “It has become expedient that we do not spare the rod and spoil the child. Anybody, no matter whose child he or she is, if found guilty of armed robbery, would be visited with the full weight of the law, including capital punishment.”
He said the State would avail all other security outfits, including the Department of State Security Service and the armed forces, with necessary material and logistic support to end the reign of terror unleashed by armed robbers on the State.
“I will not hesitate to confirm sentences, even of capital punishment, if that will deter these social misfits. Ogun has zero- tolerance for criminals and we will deal with the with venomous measures. Enough is enough”, the governor said.
Governor Abiodun commended the State Police Command for its swiftness and prompt adherence to directive of the State Government to flush out those turning the sit-at-home order to a criminal enterprise.
He further enjoined all other relevant agencies to immediately up the ante of their intelligence gathering mechanisms to ensure that there’s no re-occurrence of the criminal acts, especially as the State continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic
