Operatives of the Ojodu Abiodun Police Station in
the Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State were stunned on Sunday as some
youths invaded the division and vandalised property.
The assailants reportedly broke into the cell of
the station, freed detained suspects and carted away some valuables, including
television sets and seized motorcycles.
Cars
parked beside the station were also destroyed.
Latest Reality Metro learnt that the
youths, in a large number, stormed the station around 1pm in retaliation for
the shooting of a youth.
It was gathered that a team of policemen had
raided a black spot in the Yakoyo area on Saturday, when they were confronted
by some hoodlums.
The team was said to have responded with gunshots
during which the victim, Dada Omotoye, who was relaxing in front of his house,
was hit by a bullet.
He was said to have been rushed to a private
hospital in the community.
On Sunday, some angry youths were said to have
mobilised to a checkpoint along the Alagbole under bridge, but were repelled by
the operatives on duty.
They allegedly regrouped in numbers and attacked
the division around 1pm.
There was tension when our correspondent visited
the police station around 2pm on Sunday as armed men of the Federal Special
Anti-Robbery Squad were seen patrolling the area.
It was observed that glasses of the station’s
windows had been shattered, while its charge room was in a shambles. An
electricity box at the entrance of the charge room was also destroyed.
Windscreens and side glasses of four vehicles
parked beside the division were vandalised. Two of the cars reportedly belonged
to policemen at the station.
Latest Reality Metro also observed that
broken bottles littered a section of the premises, while a television set was
smashed by the station gate.
Our correspondent heard an armed policeman in
mufti, telling a man that there were a few operatives on the ground when the
hoodlums struck.
He said, “We were caught unawares. It was only
the S.O. (Station Officer), one or two policemen and me that were at the
station when they (the hoodlums) came. They were about 200. They entered my
office and removed my TV set. They went to other offices and stole TV sets.
They carted away some seized motorcycles on the premises. Their intention was
to burn the station, but we were able to disperse them.”
An FSARS operative was also heard lamenting that
the hoodlums freed some suspects in the police custody.
Some panic-stricken residents approached by our
correspondent declined comments on the incident.
Our correspondent, however, eavedropped on a
crowd discussing the attack in hushed tones.
One of them said, “They did not find any stolen
property on the boy. Why did they shoot him? Will his parents be happy to lose
him? I don’t blame the hoodlums for attacking the station. I am even happy that
they freed people in the cell. Maybe some of them were arrested for offences
they did not commit.”
The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer,
Abimbola Oyeyemi, confirmed the shooting of the resident and attack on the
division.
Oyeyemi, an Assistant Superintendent of Police,
said the perpetrators of the attack would be tracked down and brought to
justice.
He said, “There is a black spot in that area,
where hoodlums smoke Indian hemp and carry out all sorts of unlawful
activities. There have been complaints from residents of the area. That was why
the police went to raid the place. It was a raid, involving men from other
divisions around the Ojodu Abiodun division, aimed at flushing out those
hoodlums.
“In the process, the hoodlums attacked the
policemen, throwing bottles and attacking them with cutlasses. A bullet
ricocheted and hit somebody while the policemen were firing to scare the
hoodlums away. The man sustained a minor injury and was taken to a hospital. He
is responding to treatment. He is not among the hoodlums.
“Today (Sunday), the hoodlums moblised themselves
and attacked the station. They damaged the station and stole some property. We
have identified those behind that dastardly act and we will get them arrested.
We will use them as a lesson to those who have the habit of attacking stations.
It is an affront on the security agents and they will face the full wrath of
the law. If any policeman errs, we have internal mechanism of dealing with
them.”
The PPRO said the freed suspects had reported
back to the station.
LR News
