The bandits, who were determined for a successful operation, reportedly barricaded the Ogbere axis of the Sagamu/Benin Expressway in the early hours of today, Wednesday, August 22, 2018, and were about ransacking passengers in a “Young Shall Grow” luxury bus when a detachment of Anti-robbery men attached to Ogbere Division arrived at the scene.
On sighting the detectives, led by the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, SP Okon, the hoodlums, apparently vexed by the obstructive emergence of police men, reportedly opened fire on them, a move considered by the operatives as sheer effrontery and engaged them with fire for fire.
At the end of the test of mights which, according to the state Police Public Relations Officer, (PPRO), DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, lasted about 30 minutes, it was a victory song for the operatives as the syndicate had been reduced by one, having felled one of them in the gun duel.
This was even as other members of the gang scampered for safety into a nearby bush, for which a manhunt had been ordered by the state commissioner of police, CP Iliyasu Ahmed, to fish them out.
Oyeyemi disclosed in a press release made available to Crimepuzzle that, “at the end of the encounter, one of the suspects was shot dead while others escaped into the nearby bush”, adding that a long locally made gun, a toy pistol and charms, were recovered at the scene.
Oyeyemi further stated that, CP Iliyasu had expressed satisfaction over the performance of his men and went ahead to order for a serious manhunt for members of the gang, now at large, with a view to bringing them to justice, while assuring the public that their security was well guaranteed all the time.
