Kudos to Oyo Police on Arrest of Killers of US-based Hotelier, Others

The Oyo State Police Command has recorded major feats in crime fighting in recent months. The command under the leadership of Adebowale Williams, who assumed duties barely six months ago as the 44th Commissioner of Police in the state,  has adopted robust community policing strategies, smart inter-agency collaboration, visibility policing, mass patrolling strategy, technology-driven policing strategy and respect for the rights of residents of Oyo State. 

Williams also adopted fresh strategies to comprehensively secure critical infrastructures across the length and breadth of the state.

These infrastructures include but are not limited to media houses, banks, correctional centers, hospitals, schools, places of worship, recreational centres, public spaces and now of topmost priority, INEC facilities and tele-communications base stations.

It was not surprising that the Oyo State Police Command recently arrested the killers of Mr. Gbenga Owolabi, the Ogbomoso-born US citizen, who was kidnapped and subsequently murdered along with two others in Abaa, Ogbomoso.

Owolabi was kidnapped at his hotel in Ogbomoso in August 2022, along with a female final-year student of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, Rachael Opadele, who was working in the hotel.

The state police command had shortly before Christmas Day paraded 13 suspects, among whom were three killers of Owolabi, and a final year student of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Opadele, in Ibadan.

The state Commissioner of Police, Williams, who paraded the suspects at the police headquarters in Eleyele, Ibadan, said the suspects were also among the killers of a police Inspector and kidnap of a former Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Professor Adigun Agbaje, on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

Williams, while parading the suspects through the Police Public Relations Officer, Adewale Osifeso, said the suspects were picked up at different locations in Oyo and Kwara states.

He said nemesis caught up with the suspected killers of the Ogbomoso-born US-based hotelier while trying to collect a ransom of N10.7million from the family of another victim.

The commissioner disclosed that on September 16, 2021, one Alhaji Waheed Hammed, a cattle dealer of Ogbomoso town while returning from his cattle ranch located at Adafila village, via Ogbomoso was intercepted at a desolate spot by some notorious kidnapping syndicate that have been terrorising members of the public in Ogbomoso and its neighboring towns.

According to the commissioner, the members of this dreaded kidnapping syndicate who were reportedly armed with AK-47 riffles, cutlasses and some other dangerous weapons attacked the said Hammed and later whisked him away into a thick forest where they contacted his relative and demanded for N100 million ransom before he would be released.

The CP said as soon as he got wind of the incident through a duly written petition, he directed that all available resources be deployed in rescuing the victim unhurt with his abductors arrested, hence the transfer to the Command’s Monitoring Unit.

“Sequel to this directive, operatives attached to the Monitoring Unit swung into action and in the process of combing the thick forest alongside local hunters and Vigilantes, they stumbled upon where the victim was held captive and rescued him unhurt.

The victim during debrief narrated his ordeal in the hands of his abductors and explained that while the kidnappers were negotiating his ransom, they claimed responsibility for the death of an Ogbomosho hotelier, Mr. Gbenga Owolabi and that he,(the abductee) would suffer a similar fate should his ransom payment process get thwarted by involving the Police,” the CP explained. 

The CP gave the names of the three arrested members of the kidnapping syndicate to include Namaru Abubakar, Saliu Abubakar and Usman Abubakar.

The commissioner explained that upon detailed interrogations, the suspects explained in detail how one Mohammadu (now at large) who happened to be a former employee (cattle herder) of the victim invited them and some other Fulani cattle herders from Kebbi State to carry out the criminal activity. 

He promised that investigation is still in progress to track down other members of the fleeing criminal syndicate.

The CP further explained that on December 16, 2022, two members of a criminal syndicate who specialised in removing exotic cars from where they are parked by unsuspecting members of the public went to a car park designated for staff of the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan and removed two Toyota Camry Cars with Registration Numbers AKD 153 UE and LND 216 CD from where they were parked by their respective owners.

According to the CP, the security guards attached to the Hospital who sighted the hoodlums while they were moving the vehicles out of the hospital environment quickly alerted a team of Police operatives who were on anti-crime patrol in the area, and in the process, one of the suspects who later identified himself as Danjuma Yusuf, who is 70 years old, was arrested but his syndicate member whom he gave his name as Segun escaped. 

He explained that at the time of arrest, Yusuf was found in possession of two vehicles alongside; One Walkie Talkie; two master keys which they used to unlock the vehicles and a military emblem which was part of their deception packages were all recovered.

The CP advised members of the public not to leave security access tags received at points of entries in their vehicles after it is parked, as it makes the carjacking process easy.

He said upon interrogations, Yusuf who revealed his identity as a retired Customs Officer confessed to the crime and series of similar criminal activities he and his fleeing syndicate members had masterminded in different parts of Oyo State.  

He also promised that the investigation would continue.

In another development, the Oyo State CP explained that on October 28, 2022, some members of a dreaded kidnapping syndicate who were reportedly armed with AK-47 rifles and some other sophisticated firearms attacked and kidnapped an academic don and seven other persons who were traveling along the Ibadan end of the Lagos/Ibadan expressway.

According to the CP, the dare-devil gunmen equally attacked a team of responding policemen while heeding the distress call in a bid to rescue trapped victims on the highway, adding that an Inspector of Police paid the supreme price in a fierce gun duel.

He said the kidnappers later whisked the victims away to an unknown destination through the thick forest along the said Ibadan/Lagos expressway while their relatives were contacted for monetary demands in exchange for their liberty.

The CP explained that in one of the most coordinated reconnaissance operations in the history of the Oyo State Police Command, all Command’s Operational, tactical and Intelligence assets were collapsed and fused as one to attain the goal of immediate rescue of the abductees unhurt and the apprehension of their abductors for prosecution.

“Consequent upon the above, the Oyo State Police Command in a technological intelligence-aided operation aided and with necessary support from Amotekun (the Oyo State Security Network) and other communal partners, apprehended the duo of Babangida Buhari Awalu; and Kabiru Aliyu, both commercial motorcyclists and couriers for the Kidnap syndicate while retrieving “exchange money” for other members of the syndicate around Ojoo Area, Ibadan.

“Further detailed and painstaking investigations led to the arrest of five members of the criminal gang who identified themselves as Mohammed Salfa, Usman Hassan, aka Yellow Putel; Muhammadu Salfa; Muhammadu Bello; and Mikailu Yahaya, alongside the sum of N7,500,000, which was part of recovered monies from the abductors.

Also recovered from the suspects are: Four AK-47 rifles; 75 AK-47 live ammunition; two pairs of military camouflage and one mobile police beret,

which are used for their criminal activities.

“It is worthy to note that some of the abductors in a carefully arranged identification parade in line with professional standard practices were identified by the victims from the incident at full glare.

“Further escalated findings led to the arrest of three additional suspects who gave their names as Adewuyi Adewumi Sunday, Ayanwola Samson Gbenga, and Rafiu Abdulmajeed from Gbugbu in Kwara State and Ago-Are in Oyo State, respectively.

“It was also discovered that monies received from the victims were moved into the bank accounts of these three additional suspects for onward distribution to other members of the kidnapping syndicate,” the CP explained.

The CP added that the three suspects have all since voluntarily confessed to their complicity in the criminal activity and also confirmed that the transactions were made into their Bank accounts via Point of Sales terminals at choice locations to evade arrest. 

He promised that the manhunt for other members of the criminal syndicate continues, adding that further development will be communicated.

The CP also recalled that on the 19th December, 2022, one Adeoti Bolanle was going to her office in the morning and on getting to a desolate spot near Aliyu Primary School, Iso Pako, Bodija Market, Ibadan, two notorious hoodlums who were armed with guns and Jack Knife intercepted her and threatened to kill her if she raised alarm.

The armed robbers attacked her and equally snatched her handbag containing cell phones, cash sum of N120,000 and other valuables at gunpoint.

However, luck ran out on the armed robbers who while fleeing the scene bumped into Operatives from the Command’s Anti-Crime Unit, who responded to the distress call while on confidence building patrols around the axis.

According to the commissioner, the suspects – Fawas Akeem and Umoru Yesid were arrested in possession of the locally-made pistol used for the criminal activity.

Upon interrogations, the suspects voluntarily confessed to the crime and many other criminal activities they had masterminded in different parts of Ibadan metropolis, the CP added.