Two suspected robbers were, on Saturday, arrested after men of the Ogun State Police Command, who engaged members of the gang in gun duel that left a police corporal with gunshot injuries.
The suspects were arrested while operating at the Sagamu interchange on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
The suspects, 30-year-old Solomon Aghofure a 37-year-old Emmanuel Matthew, were arrested when the police patrol team of the Sagamu Division on routine patrol of the road intercepted them around 1.30am.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.
Oyeyemi said Aghofue, a Delta State indigene, and Matthew from Abia State, and their gang members positioned themselves at the interchange in readiness for attacks on commuters plying the road.
The PPRO said, “The suspects opened fire on the passing patrol team led by the DPO, CSP Okiki Agunbiade. The team engaged them in a shootout at the end of which one of the suspected robbers sustained gunshot injuries and was subsequently apprehended.
“Other members of the gang escaped into the bush and abandoned their operational vehicle. The bush was thoroughly combed from where the other suspect was arrested.
“A police corporal attached to the team also sustained gunshot injuries on his leg and was rushed to hospital for treatment.
“On interrogation, the suspects informed the police that they were five in number and gave the names of others as Uche, aka Two Million; Arinze and Uzor.
“They further revealed that the three escaped members of the gang are ex-convicts, who had served various jail terms in Okitipupa, Ondo State, and Sagamu in Ogun State. It was after their prison terms that they formed the gang and recruited them.”
The PPRO said the Commissioner of Police, Edward Ajogun, who praised the gallantry of his men, ordered the immediate transfer of the suspects to the state Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for discreet investigation.
According to Oyeyemi, the CP also directed that the escaped members of the gang must be hunted and brought to justice.
“The CP, therefore, appealed to members of the public, especially hospitals, to quickly inform the police if anyone with gunshot injury is seen in their vicinity,” he added.
