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Oyo Police Command Confirms One Dead as Hoodlums Invade Apata to Loot, Fuel
The Oyo State Police Command has confirmed death of an individual identified to be a member of a vigilante group following an invasion by some hoodlums who besieged Apata axis of the Oyo State capital, Ibadan, under the disguise of protesting fuel scarcity and paucity of cash facing the country.
It would be recalled that similar protest rocked the Secretariat, Agodi and Ikolaba areas of the state on Friday where hoodlums destroyed some public properties, inflicted injuries on a number security agents and also threatened to set ablaze government structures.
In order to restore normalcy and prevent further breakdown of law and order, the Oyo State Police Command in conjunction with relevant sister agencies embarked on joint patrols across the nooks and crannies of the state.
A statement issued and signed by the command’s Public Relations Officer, SP. Adewale Osifeso and made available to penangle.com reads:
“The Oyo State Police Command wishes to unequivocally re-assert its resolve to maintain the relative tranquility in the state despite pockets of protests witnessed in some parts of the Metropolis under the Capital.
“Recall the Command issued an advisory via a press release dated Friday 03/02/2023 with the intent to intimate residents about concluded plans of some criminal elements to destabilize and completely bring to a halt economic activities in the state by launching coordinated attacks on critical infrastructures to include INEC facilities, Banks, Correctional Centers, Religious Centers, Landmarks ,recreational Centers, Shopping Malls, Business Centers, Public Spaces and other places of interest under the guise of protesting the scarcity of fuel and paucity of cash for dispense at ATM Machines and Point of Sales Terminals.
“Consequent on the above stated, Oyo State Police Command in concert with relevant sister agencies embarked on high octane joint convoy patrols simultaneously across the nook and crannies of the state with the sole purpose of ridding the environs off undesirable elements with sinister motives of hijacking the situation to make criminal proceeds.
“Today Saturday, 04/02/2023 at about 1015hrs, while embarking series of confidence building patrols around different blackspots and flash points, the joint convoy patrol comprising of the Police and other agencies ran into a band of hoodlums around Apata Junction Market, Apata Area under Ido Local Government Area.
“In a rather surprising event, the hoodlums who had perfected plans to molest residents, harass shop owners and loot shops on sighting the combined convoy of security launched a series of unprovoked attacks by firing guns, hurling stones, sharp objects and other dangerous missiles at them.
“The trained officers, cautious of the level of casualties that might be recorded should they engage at the location, resorted to restraints and professionally took charge at the scene while arresting the situation with reasonable force in line with standard operational procedure.
“However, during the rage, an individual identified to have been a member of a vigilante group and who was reported to have died in the fiasco has since been deposited at a government hospital for post-mortem.
“Meanwhile normalcy has since returned to the area with heavy deployment of patrol teams and other tactical assets visibly on ground.
“So also, the Commissioner of Police has directed that the Deputy Commissioner of Police in Charge of the State Criminal Investigation Department leads the investigating team with a deadline for results as an arrest was made.
“Further updates would be communicated accordingly,please.
“In cases of emergency, the Command can always be reached through these emergency control room numbers: 615 (toll free) (OYO STATE SECURITY TRUST FUND), and Oyo State Police Command emergency lines 07055495413 and 08081768614. The NPF rescue me app is also available for free download on both Android and Apple IOS, for Android and I phone users respectively.”
