Oyo CP assures of safety over rumoured vehicles containing arms, ammunition

THE Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Mr Leye Oyebade has assured residents of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, that his command has dispatched detectives and patrol teams to some locations within Ibadan metropolis where some yet-to-be identified vehicles allegedly containing arms and ammunition were rumoured to have been parked.

The assurance was given on Friday in a statement issued and signed by the state command’s Police Public Relations Officer, Adekunle Ajisebutu, a Superintendent of Police, on behalf of the police commissioner.

Saturday Tribune gathered that the panic arose after an anonymous caller who claimed to be based in Germany phoned in during an entertainment programme on Fresh FM, Ibadan at about 12 noon on Friday.

The caller was quoted to have said that two trucks loaded with arms and ammunition were parked at Sabo and at a petrol station at Iwo Road areas in Ibadan.

Though the radio station was said to have told the caller to furnish it with more information on the registration numbers of the trucks and other details, he was yet to do so at the time of filing this report, according to the director, Corporate Affairs and Promotions, Fresh FM, Mr David Ajiboye.

His call, however, sent shivers down the spine of many residents who listened to the programme, which made the rumour to spread round the city.

Oyebade said that he had deployed operatives of Counter Terrorism Unit, Anti-Kidnapping Squad, Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Anti-Bomb Unit and regular policemen to the mentioned areas as well as others, but no vehicle as described by the caller had been found.

He disclosed that his men were still on the search to confirm the information and possibly recover the exhibits, if there was any, while he enjoined members of the public not to panic but go about their legitimate businesses.