Police nab suspected bandits who attacked Ogun monarch

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By Sola AJIBIKE (Abeokuta)

NIGERIA: MEN of the Nigeria Police Force have arrested a three-man robbery syndicate suspected to have robbed a traditional ruler in Ogun State.

The suspects, GatewayMail learnt, were alleged to have waylaid the Olu of Owode, Oba Kolawole Sowemimo, on his way from Abeokuta to his palace in Owode and robbed him of valuable materials.

The Ogun State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, at the weekend confirmed the arrest, saying that they were apprehended two weeks after the robbery.

Oyeyemi said that the Divisional Police Officer Owode Station, Sheu Alao, led detectives to arrest the bandits.

According to him, Oba Sowemimo had identified the suspects when they were paraded.‎

The dare devil armed bandits had attacked the monarch who narrowly escaped death in their hands around 8.45pm on his way from Abeokuta after he dropped his child in the school hostel and returning to his palace.

According to the traditional ruler, he was in his Mercedes Benz car when unexpectedly at the Daywaterman College area along Abeokuta-Siun-Owode road he ran into the robbers, who had used tyres to block the highway.

While narrating his ordeal, Oba Sowemimo said that the robbers ordered him out of the car before they ransacked it and stole his vital personal effects.

The bandits at gun point, according to him, robbed him of cash, wristwatch, two cell phones, ring and Automated Machine Card, among other valuables.

“They were three man-gang and fully armed and they placed tyres on the road as a ploy to force motorists to reduce speed,” the monarch said, adding: “My car ran into them and they ordered me out at gun point.”

Oba Sowemimo said that after he was forced out of the car, he introduced‎ himself as a traditional ruler, but the bandits ignored him and insisted on robbing him.

He further explained that the bandits wanted to go away with his car leaving behind the car they brought to carry out the operation.

But, according to him, the car could not start and the robbers thereafter snatched an on-coming Golf car in which they escaped from the scene, after they had robbed the occupants.

Oba Sowemimo stated that after their escape he transported other victims to Owode Police Station, where the incident was reported.

The royal father praised the station’s Divisional Police Officer for his proactive nature by personally leading his men to the scene to commence investigation.

The Ogun State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, confirmed the incident, and said that investigation had commenced.

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