By The Osun State Police Command has arrested six suspects over the September 13 killing of Accord Party chieftain Olalekan Oyeyemi Ajagungbade, popularly known as “Emir,” at Mayfair Garage in Ile-Ife. The two men police say mobilised the attackers, Nurudeen Alowonle and Adeyemi Ojo, alias Sibi, remain at large.
Commissioner of Police Ibrahim Zungura gave the update at a press briefing on Monday, where he also announced arrests in an armed robbery case, a burglary and a deadly clash over a cocoa farm.
The Emir case
Zungura said the command received a distress call on September 13 that armed men had stormed Mayfair Garage and fired sporadically, killing Oyeyemi. He said a fatal motor accident was also reported the same day at Energy Filling Station along the Ile-Ife/Ibadan Road.
According to Afriktimes’ earlier report, Oyeyemi’s killing was tied to a leadership dispute within the state chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW). He had reportedly been seeking to take over the parks led by Alowonle. Union officials said he had just left a meeting with the Transport Commissioner, Hon. Sesan Oyedele, where leaders told the commissioner of their decision to support him as state chairman. Oyedele later said the leaders had come on their own initiative and that he only agreed to relay their position to the governor.
Zungura said he directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the State Criminal Investigation Department to take charge of the case. Homicide detectives, assisted by the Amotekun Commandant, first arrested four suspects: Tijani Ismail, Akinsola Ekundayo, Sijuade Moruf Oyinlola and Ayeni Adegbola Olalekan.
Further investigation led to Hammed Olalekan Dauda, alias Jagaban, who was allegedly found with a cut-to-size firearm. Police said he reportedly confessed that Alowonle gave him the weapon. Detectives then arrested Waliu Adejare, alias Jay Jay, described as Alowonle’s personal assistant. The firearm was displayed as an exhibit.
Police allege that all the suspects were mobilised by Alowonle and Ojo. The command says it is intensifying efforts to arrest both men and others at large who allegedly took part in the killing.
Armed robbery ring
The Osun Police Command also paraded six suspects: Olaiya Sunday (27), Akintunde Mariam (28), Agoro Kudus (27), Timileyin Idowu (23), Adekunle Ibrahim (30) and Temitope Opeyemi (29).
According to police, a Swift Action Squad team on stop-and-search duty at Akinlalu, Ipetumodu area, along the Ile-Ife/Ibadan Expressway, stopped an unregistered red Bajaj Boxer motorcycle at about 3 p.m. on September 24. Olaiya was riding it, and his passenger escaped. While officers questioned them, two people arrived and identified the pair as the men who had robbed them of an unregistered TVS lady’s motorcycle and three phones. Both suspects ran into the bush. Olaiya was caught after a chase by police and the complainants, and the case was transferred to the Anti-Robbery Section.
Police said Olaiya admitted it was a planned robbery by five people who left Oje Igosun, Ibadan, on two motorcycles. He allegedly said that in Ile-Ife they beckoned to their victims, accused them of belonging to an unlawful society and took an iPhone 13, an iPhone 11, an Infinix Smart 10 and the ash-coloured TVS motorcycle.
He reportedly told police the gang had operated in Ibadan, Osun and Lagos and had robbed many people, selling stolen motorcycles to a man called Seriki in Mokola, Ibadan, and phones to a man popularly known as Oshodi in Lagos. Police said Akintunde, girlfriend of one of the suspects, specialised in using her National Identification Number to register SIM cards for the gang.
On October 14, detectives travelled to Oyo State, where Agoro and Timileyin had been arrested by the Oyo police anti-cultism section, and took custody of them. At about 7 p.m. the same day, Adekunle Ibrahim, alias Oshodi, described as the receiver, and Temitope Opeyemi were arrested at Yemetu, Ibadan, with five phones that police said were all stolen in Osun State: an iPhone 13, an iPhone 11, an Infinix Smart 10, an Infinix Smart 8 and an Itel phone. The TVS motorcycle and other items have yet to be recovered.
Jumia pickup station burglary
On October 10, police arrested Gbenga Adeosun, 32, at Ifo, Ogun State, over the August 22 burglary of a Jumia pickup station in the town, in which phones and gadgets were carted away. The Cybercrime Unit of the State CID in Osogbo recovered an iPhone 13, five Android phones, a tablet, two headsets, two watches and a charger.
Police said Adeosun confessed under interrogation and had earlier been remanded in a correctional centre over a related offence. Efforts are ongoing to arrest his accomplices.
Four dead in Alapa clash
Police also arrested Oniyefa Olayemi over a violent clash between rival groups at Alapa village, along Toro Road in Ile-Ife, in which four people died.
A complainant from Odo Ogbe told the Modakeke “B” Division at about 8:30 a.m. on October 5 that about ten armed men had invaded the village between October 4 and 5 and opened fire, killing his mother, Toyin Olagbaju, 40. Homicide detectives found that two groups, allegedly led by Awosunle Tosin (at large) and Emmanuel Agunbiade, alias Abore, were fighting over control of a vast cocoa farm.
Detectives who visited the scene saw signs that firearms of various calibres had been used. Items recovered included two Dane guns, a small axe, eleven expended cartridges, one live cartridge, three empty AK-47 shells, two empty LAR shells, one empty assault rifle shell and some locally made charms.
Police named the dead as Olagbaju, Agunbiade, a man identified as Akeem, and one Ademola, alias Small, whose surname is unknown. Olayemi is assisting investigators, and Zungura ordered that the fleeing suspects be hunted down and any other weapons recovered.
Police warning
Zungura warned individuals and groups against violence, illegal firearms and taking the law into their own hands over land or other disputes.
He urged residents to settle differences lawfully and report suspicious activity to the nearest police station. He said all suspects would be charged to court once investigations conclude, and that no effort would be spared in bringing offenders to book.
