*Says command fully prepared to stop the criminal elements from turning State into playground
By; BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan
Oyo State Police Command at the weekend, said that it has uncovered planned coordinated attacks on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) facilities, banks, correctional centers and religious centers in the state.
The command in a statement in Ibadan, signed by the Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Adewale Osifeso for Oyo State Commissioner of Police, noted that criminal elements are planning the attacks under the guise of protesting the scarcity of fuel and paucity of cash for dispense at ATM Machines and Point of Sales (PoS) Terminals.
Oyo State Police Command in the statement, listed other places targeted for the coordinated attacks as Landmarks, recreational centers, shopping malls, business centers, public spaces and other places of interest
According to the statement, “available intelligence reveals that certain unscrupulous elements have perfected plans to hijack the process, escalating the situation into full scale chaos by shutting down and attacking places of interest which include, but not limited to INEC facilities, banks, media houses, schools, correctional centers and other critical infrastructure inclusive of looting major malls and business centers within the state.
“Members of the public are hereby, advised, especially with reference to the youth segment, to avoid being used by agents of violence who want to capitalize on the situation to criminally enrich themselves especially as we navigate towards the 2023 general Elections”, it said
The statement added, ” the command is fully prepared to mobilize fully to prevent these criminal elements from turning Oyo State into their playground.
” Consequent on the above, residents would witness high octane patrols in concert with relevant sister security agencies all in a bid to heighten the level of confidence of residents and as well reassure them of the commitment of the Oyo State Police Command at providing comprehensive security for all residents in the state”.
It then advised the people of Oyo State to go about their businesses without any fear of harassment or molestation as the relative tranquility within cannot be negotiated with unscrupulous and criminal elements.
Concerning the Apata area of Ibadan, incident on Saturday, the statement stressed, ” the Police and other agencies ran into a band of hoodlums around Apata Junction Market, Apata area in Ido Local Government Area, during which some hoodlums on sighting convoy of security, launched a series of unprovoked attacks by firing guns, hurling stones, sharp objects and other dangerous missiles.
“While embarking on series of confidence building patrols around different blackspots and flash points, the joint convoy patrol comprising of the Police and other agencies ran into a band of hoodlums around Apata Junction Market, Apata Area under Ido Local Government Area.
” In a rather surprising event, the hoodlums who had perfected plans to molest residents, harass shop owners and loot shops on sighting the combined convoy of security, launched a series of unprovoked attacks by firing guns, hurling stones, sharp objects and other dangerous missiles at them,” the statement said.
Oyo Police command stressed, ” the trained officers, cautious of the level of casualties that might be recorded should they engage at the location, resorted to restraint and professionally took charge at the scene, while arresting the situation with reasonable force in line with standard operational procedure”.
Emphasizing that, “during the rage, an individual identified to have been a member of a vigilante group and who was reported to have died in the fiasco, has since been deposited at a government hospital for post-mortem”.
Oyo Police Command said that normalcy has since returned to the area, with heavy deployment of patrol teams and other tactical assets visibly on ground.
