Ibadan – The police in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria, have arrested 78 members of the Park Management System (PMS) who were reportedly planning to unleash wide-scale civil disturbance in the state.
The state police command’s spokesperson, SP Osifeso Adewale, confirmed the arrests in a statement on Tuesday in Ibadan.
According to him, the suspects were arrested when police operatives raided Diamond Hotel, Alakia, Ibadan, which belongs to the immediate past chairman of PMS in the state, Mukaila Lamidi, popularly called Auxiliary.
The police said they recovered some guns, ammunition and charms during the raid.
A police source who was part of the operation said Auxiliary fled when he saw the heavy police deployment in his hotel.
Osifeso said the command on intelligence-driven surveillance foiled what he described as a “coordinated attempt at destabilising the state through wide-scale civil disturbance by members of the Park Management Systems led by one Alhaji Mukaila Lamidi AKA Auxillary following the dissolution of the Disciplinary Committee of the Park Management System of the State.
“Sequel to the above, on Tuesday 30/05/2023 in a strategic intelligence coordinated raid around his location at Diamond Hotel, Alakia-Isebo, under Egbeda LGA, (78) Seventy-Eight suspected hoodlums who had perfected plans to unleash mayhem at the early hours of today at major parts of the Metropolis were arrested in possession of sophisticated firearms, (724) Seven Hundred and Twenty-four Cartridges assorted charms, (33) Thirty-three Mobile Phones, and a cash sum of about (N3,450,000) Three Million Four Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira Only.
“In addition, during the raid, sophisticated firearms were recovered inside the hotel rooms and in the trunk compartment of parked vehicles within the hotel,” the statement said
The PPRO further explained that though the former PMS chieftain was able to escape, one of his boys was killed during a gun duel with the police.
Adewale said the group was allegedly responsible for the attack on 14 members of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) along the Agodi axis en route to the venue of Makinde’s inauguration for a second term in office.
The PPRO, however, noted that in line with Standard Operational Procedure, all recovered items were properly documented, packaged and recorded for onward forensics analysis and for evidence purposes in accordance with the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 and all other relevant laws.
He quoted the state police commissioner, CP Adebowale Williams to have reiterated its unwavering commitment towards tackling criminal rascality, hooliganism and blatant disregard for the rule of law.
Following the development, the PPRO said the commissioner appealed to residents to co-operate with the police with the provision of useful information to help apprehend the sacked PMS chieftain.
“Moving forward, residents shall witness high octane patrols, coordinated stop and search along designated points across the nooks and crannies of the state,” he said.
The command’s spokesperson further stated that the CP had directed Area Commanders to personally lead “patrols and rings of supervision of police operatives within their respective areas of jurisdiction.
“This far, the location and environs are actively monitored with ample deployment of police operatives to boost the confidence of residents against any fear of molestation or harassment as they go about their legitimate businesses.
“In cases of emergencies, the Command can always be reached through these emergency control room numbers: 615(Tell free) (Oyo State Security Trust Fund), and Oyo State Police Command Emergency lines 07055495413 and 08081768614.”
He listed exhibits recovered follows: “One AK-47 rifle, four AK-47 magazines, eighty-four (84) live AK-47 ammunition, nineteen (19) pump action riffles, one beretta pistol, seven cut-to-size guns, one English-made single barrel gun, seven hundred and twenty-four (724) live cartridges.”
Others are “twenty-five (25) cutlasses, seven jack knives, thirty-three mobile phones, one Samsung laptop, criminal charms, one Mazda bus, one Toyota Sienna, cash sum of three million, four hundred and fifty thousand naira (N3, 450, 000. 00) only.”
The police command said the suspects comprise 49 males and 29 females and they were listed as follows:
“TIRIMISIYU ODUNAYO ‘M’ AGE 55 YRS , ISIAKA IDRIS ‘M’ AGE 45 YRS, KAMORU YUSUF ‘M’ AGE 55 YRS, ADEBAYO OLALEKAN ‘M’ AGE 18 YRS, KOLAWOLE JOSHUA ‘M’ AGE 48 YRS, MORADEYO TOSIN ‘M’ AGE 30 YRS, OLUWOLE AKANBI ‘M’ AGE 60 YRS, ISIAKA LAMIDI ‘M’ AGE 53 YRS, OPEYEMI ABDULAHI ‘M’ AGE 25 YRS, ABDULAHI INAOMO ‘M’ AGE 50 YRS, MUSA ODUNAYO ‘M’ AGE 44 YRS, BIODUN OLANIYI ‘M’ AGE 35 YRS, ALABI IBRAHIM ‘M,’ AGE 20 YRS, HAMMED YUSUF ‘M’ AGE 34 YRS.
Others are “ADEDOKUN TAJUDEEN ‘M’ AGE 50 YRS; OLANIYI OLAYINKA ‘M’ AGE 33 YRS; ABASS OGUNMOLA ‘M’ AGE 50 YRS; INAOLAJI BANJO ‘M’ AGE 49 YRS; SIKIRU AFOLABI ‘M’ AGE 53 YRS; AWEDA BASHIRU ‘M’ AGE 42 YRS; AMOS AJAYI ‘M’ AGE 45 YRS; AKANDE BASIT ‘M’ AGE 21 YRS; HAMMED DAUDA ‘M’ AGE 30 YRS; AFEEZ ADEMOLA ‘M’ AGE 30 YRS; SARAFA ADEWALE ‘M’ AGE 54 YRS; OWOADE SODIQ ‘M’ AGE 34 YRS; AZEEZ OLAIDE ‘M’ AGE 38 YRS; TAOFEEQ ROBIU ‘M’ AGE 52 YRS; HAMMED RASAQ ‘M’ AGE 41 YRS; KUNLE OLADOSUN ‘M’ AGE 50 YRS; MOSES OWURU ‘M’ AGE 38 YRS,3 2. ODUNAYO ABIODUN ‘M’ AGE 35 YRS; ADEPOJU ADEWALE ‘M’ AGE 46 YRS; FATAI ABIDEMI ‘M’ AGE 42 YRS; TESLIM ISHOLA ‘M’ AGE 40 YRS; ADEBAYO AKANDE ‘M’ AGE 33 YRS; ISAMOTU SULAIMON ‘M’ AGE 45 YRS; OLADEJI FELIX ‘M’ AGE 31 YRS and MORUF LATEEF ‘M’ AGE 45 YRS.
“AJADI ADEMOLA ‘M’ AGE 22 YRS; ADEKUNLE ADEJARE ‘M’ AGE 40 YRS; OLAONIPEKUN JAMIU ‘M’ AGE 28 YRS; UKANA DANIEL ‘M’ AGE 29 YRS; SIKIRU ADEBAYO ‘M’ AGE 62 YRS; WAHAB SAHEED ‘M’ 33 YRS; BABATUNDE RIDWAN ‘M’ AGE 29 YRS; ADEBAYO SODIQ ‘M’ AGE 23 YRS; ADABALE AFEEZ ‘M’ AGE 25 YRS; KAFAYAT IDRIS ‘F’ AGE 30 YRS; SILIFA IBRAHEEM ‘F’ AGE 30 YRS; KAFAYAT ALABA ‘F’ AGE 30 YRS; ADIJAT OLANIYAN ‘F’ AGE 30 YRS; TOSIN OLALEKAN ‘F’ AGE 35 YRS; OYEWOLA IFEOLUWA ‘F’ AGE 28 YRS; BALIKIS KABIRU ‘F’ AGE 32 YRS; AFOLABI OLUWAKEMI ‘F’ AGE 30 YRS; ARIYO FUNMILAYO ‘F’ AGE 38 YRS; RUKAYAT TAIWO ‘F’ AGE 30 YRS,” Osifeso explained.
(vitalnewsngr.com)