Three men have been arrested by men of the Ogun State police command during a robbery operation in the Iju area of Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area.

According to the police, the suspects are “members of a robbery gang who have been terrorising Iju-Ota and its environs for some time.”

The suspects are: Bamidele Oluwashina, 31; Adebowale Kehinde, 32 and Oluwasegun Abayomi. They were arrested on November 12.

Abimbola Oyeyemi, the Ogun State police image maker, said in a statement yesterday that the trio were arrested following a distress call received by the police at Onipanu divisional headquarters around 9:30p.m.

The police, Oyeyemi disclosed, were alerted that robbers had invaded Iju Love bus stop and Tipper Garage, wielding dangerous weapons and dispossessing people of their valuables.

As a result of the information, the DPO of Onipanu division, CSP Bamidele Ishola Job, mobilized his men to the scene and engaged the robbers in a gun duel.

“Having realised the superior fire power of the police, the hoodlums took to their heels but one of them was arrested at the scene. The entire area was cordoned off while police intensified search for other members of the gang with the help of members of the community. Two other members of the gang were sighted trying to escape in a tricycle but were promptly arrested,” he said.

It was gathered that a victim, one Tosin Ajayi, who was matcheted on the head by the hoodlums was rushed to the hospital by the police for medical treatment. A locally-made pistol and two live cartridges were recovered from the suspects.

MEANWHILE, in its bid to boost security in Lagos State, the state police command has re-launched its anti-crime strategies to curb criminality across the state. The command yesterday around 7:00a.m. carried out raids simultaneously on identified black spots, believed to be harbouring criminals and hoodlums, across the 14 area commands in Lagos.

The Lagos police spokesman, SP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, yesterday disclosed that operatives arrested 720 suspects with incriminating items, including locally-made guns and live cartridges, charms, weed suspected to be Indian hemp, substances suspected to be cocaine and some items suspected to have been looted from various shopping outlets within the state during the recent #EndSARS violence.

The Commissioner of Police, Lagos, Hakeem Odumosu, had earlier warned and directed police officers to move against lawlessness and criminality in Lagos. He affirmed the zeal of the command to sustain the operations, even, beyond the yuletide season.

Odumosu has, however, directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of SCID, Panti, to commence discreet investigation on the arrested suspects for immediate prosecution. He also urged those whose items were looted during the recent violence to come up for claims of their items with proof of ownership.

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