Residents panic as robbers sustain attacks in Ibadan

RESPITE has not come the way of residents of Ehin Grammar, Olorunshogo, Adeyemo, Felele extension, all in Molete area, as bandits have continued to raid, maim and also kill many since December, 2016.

Sunday Tribune learnt that on Friday, around 8.45 p.m, at Ajet Junction, watchmen and robbers engaged in a cross fire.

Many residents and shopowners locked up their homes and shops until the special security outfit, Operation Burst officials, arrived. Their presence instilled calm in many residents, who were yet to get over the dare robbery act the previous Tuesday, which landed a watchman at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan.

The man was said to have confronted the robbers. He was overpowered and his eyes were removed, before he was shot with a dane gun after almost an hour of gunshots.

A landlord at Olorunshogo said: “it is a surprise that the man is still alive. He was brutally dealt with,” he told Sunday Tribune. The case was reported at the Sanyo Police station.

Residents of Aba Bridge at Arapaja community of Oluyole Local Government area, also had their relative peace shattered around 1.30 a.m on Tuesday when seven armed men stormed the area to rob many of the properties and cash. The raid lasted till after 3.00 a.m.

One of the victims, names withheld, was awoken from his sleep when he heard a loud noise on the gate of another neighbour. “I was scared, but still got out of my bed to find out what had happened as the noise, though loud enough to be heard by many, was heard by few as many had slept off,” he said.

From the window where he peeped, he could see from about nine blocks away that all the men were armed with different guns, while only one of them wore a mask. The man watched as these young robbers had an uninterrupted session, breaking into supposedly fortified houses with diggers, saws and wedges, while he waited for them to get to his apartment.

“I had left the door unlocked, so they came in without struggle. They asked for my money, computer and phones. I told them that all we had were before them. They took everything and escaped. Truth be told, the police tried, but those robbers got away. They could have caught some of them if they knew their way around Arapaja,” said the man.

Reacting to the rising cases of robberies in Oyo State, especially Ibadan, the PRO of the Police Command, Mr Adekunle Ajisebutu, said the police were doing everything it could to ensure peace and safety of lives of indigenes in the state.

“That you have specifically mentioned Ehin Grammar, Felele, Boluwaji, Ilupeju, among others, we shall flag these areas and work harder on them,” he said during a meeting with Tribune journalists at the office of the publishing company on Wednesday.

“Despite all the negative things being said about the police, Oyo State has been among the most peaceful states in the country. But policing a society is not the duty of only the police. We act on information. Nobody says anything about the police when robberies, assassinations or kidnappings are averted or solved, and we do these daily, at the risk of our lives.

“But now that you have specifically mentioned Ehin Grammar, Felele, Boluwaji, Ilupeju, among others, we shall flag these areas and work harder on them,” he said during a meeting with Tribune journalists at the office of the publishing company on Wednesday.

Early next day when residents gathered together to discuss the robbery, it was learnt that many who didn’t have enough money on them were vicioulsy beaten and left bleeding on one part of the body and another. An alsatian dog, known to be active by many residents, was sprayed with a compound that demobilised it. “The dog was just looking sheepishly and couldn’t even bark all through the robbery, even the next day. We were now able to see that they had cut their ways through walls, fences, and even through roofs, into many houses. Those who didn’t open their gates on their own were beaten and severly injured. The incident was reported at the Orita Challenge police station.