Operatives of the Ogun State Police Command, on Sunday, gunned down two members of a suspected school kidnap gang after a foiled attempt at the ICT Polytechnic, Itori in Ewekoro local government area of Ogun State.
The suspects were gunned down during a near 40-minute gun battle between the suspected kidnappers and security operatives, who smoked the criminals out of the forest in Itori where they had been hibernating and awaiting the appropriate time to launch an attack against the institute.
The command’s Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Abimbola Oyeyemi, who confirmed the incident to journalists in a statement in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, said the Ewekoro divisional headquarters of the police received information at about 7:30am on Sunday that some armed hoodlums with facemask were sighted hibernating in a bush at the back of the ICT polytechnic and operatives hurriedly rushed to the scene.
“Couple with the fact that many suspected kidnappers have been traced to the same forest before, the anti robbery team of Ewekoro division was quickly dispatched to fish out the hoodlums.
“On sighting the policemen, the gang opened fire on them and the policemen engaged them in gun battle which lasted for about 40 minutes. At the end of the encounter, two members of the syndicate were gunned down, while others escaped with varying degrees of gun injuries,” he said.
Oyeyemi also listed items recovered from the suspects to include; one locally fabricated shot gun, two live cartridges, two battle axes, empty shells of AK 47 riffle ammunition, three android phones, two small phones, eight pairs of slippers and two school bags.
Meanwhile, the command’s Commissioner of Police, Edward Ajogun, who commended the gallantry display of his men, has also warned criminals in and around the state to “desist from testing the will power of the command under his watch,” declaring that doing so will continue to spell doom for them.
“The CP also directed a massive manhunt for the fleeing members of the gang. He therefore reiterated the stand of the command to roll out all in its arsenal to wage war against crime and criminality in order to make Ogun state free of violent crime,” PPRO added.
