The Oyo State Police Command has arrested four suspected members of a robbery syndicate allegedly responsible for hijacking and diverting trucks in the state for onward sale to criminal receivers in Kwara State.
The arrests followed intelligence received by the police and a tip-off from members of the public about a planned operation by the syndicate on August 24 at about 11pm.
The Command’s Public Relations Officer, Olayinka Ayanlade, disclosed this in a statement made available to journalists in Ibadan on Sunday.
Following the information, the Commissioner of Police, CP Abimbola Olugbenga, directed operatives of the Command’s Violent Crime Response Unit to commence an intelligence-led stop-and-search operation along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
The operation resulted in the interception of a white SINO HOWO truck and the arrest of two suspects.
The suspects were identified as Ojedokun, a motorboy attached to the truck’s driver, and his alleged accomplice, Ismail.
According to the police, the intercepted truck had already been stripped of its bucket and was being driven towards the Ogbomoso-Ilorin axis, where it was allegedly intended for delivery and sale to a criminal receiver.
Preliminary investigations reportedly showed that Ojedokun, who worked as a motorboy for the driver, allegedly masterminded the hijacking of the truck from his employer along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
The investigation was subsequently expanded, leading police operatives to track down and arrest two additional suspects identified as Adekunle and Music.
Police alleged that the suspect known as “Music” played a specialised role in the syndicate by removing vehicle tracking devices and other electronic equipment used to monitor and locate the trucks.
The removal of the trackers, according to the Command, was intended to frustrate attempts by owners and security agencies to trace and recover the stolen vehicles.
The police said efforts were ongoing to recover the detached bucket of the intercepted truck and arrest other members of the syndicate who are still at large.
The Commissioner of Police commended members of the public for providing what he described as timely and credible information that assisted the Command in disrupting the alleged criminal operation.
