Police arrest suspects in Ondo, Ekiti fatal bank robberies

The Special Tactical Squad of the Nigerian police has nabbed suspected members of a criminal gang alleged to have robbed three commercial banks in Ondo and Ekiti states in 2019 and this year.

In a statement on Thursday, police spokesperson, Frank Mba, said the suspects killed some persons during their operations, including six police officers, and carted away millions of naira in cash.

The police named the arrested suspects as: “Tunbosun Ojo, ‘m’ 42 years; Ismaila Ojo, ‘m’ 25 years; Victor Oyeyemi, ‘m’ 36 years; Dele Ariyo, ‘m’ 44 years; Shola Oladimeji, ‘m’ 50 years; Olubodun Folayemi, ‘m’ 44 years; and Adeniyi John, ‘m’ 42 years.”

The suspects allegedly carried out one of the robbery incidents at a commercial bank in Ile-Oluji, Ondo State, on February 7 in which four (4) police officers were killed.

According to Mr Mba, they were also involved in the robbery of a microfinance bank in Idanre, Ondo State in December 2019 and a commercial bank at Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State where two officers lost their lives.

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“Efforts are being intensified to arrest other members of the gang still at large and to recover other sophisticated weapons used in the operations,” Mr Mba said.

“In a similar vein, twenty-three (23) other suspects were also arrested by the Police operatives for their involvement in various crimes including armed robbery, kidnapping, illegal possession of prohibited firearms, car snatching at gunpoint, amongst other offences.”

“The following were recovered from the suspects: One (1) AK49 rifle, One (1) AK47 rifle, two (2) pump action guns, five (5) locally made guns, nineteen (19) locally made shotguns, one hundred and twenty-five (125) cartridges, one hundred and forty-five (145) AK47 ammunition, locally fabricated explosives and a Toyota Corolla vehicle with Reg. No. LSR 490 GC,” the statement read.

He said the suspects would be charged to court on conclusion of investigations.