Police foil robbery operation, rescue two kidnap victims in Ekiti
By Boye Oyeyemi
Operatives of the Ekiti State Police Command have foiled an armed robbery operation along the Ikole–Oye Road, rescuing two abducted victims and arresting two suspected robbers after intercepting a vehicle conveying stolen truck tyres.
The command’s spokesperson, SP Sunday Abutu, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday, saying the operation followed a distress report and credible intelligence that led officers to the fleeing suspects.
Abutu said the incident occurred at about 3 a.m. on Monday when three armed men attacked a broken-down petrol tanker parked along the highway. The assailants allegedly dispossessed the driver and his motor boy of their mobile phones before taking them into a nearby bush, where they were tied to a tree.
He said the suspects later returned to the tanker, removed six truck tyres and loaded them into an ash-coloured Ford minibus with the intention of escaping towards Kogi State.
According to the statement, operatives of the Safer Highway Patrol intercepted the vehicle, arrested two suspects identified as Ezekiel Balogun and Usman Wada, both from Kabba in Kogi State, and recovered all six stolen tyres. One member of the gang, however, escaped.
The police spokesperson added that the arrested suspects subsequently led detectives to the bush where the driver and his assistant were being held, leading to the safe rescue of both victims without injuries.
Reacting, the Commissioner of Police, CP Falade Adegoroye Micheal, said the case had been transferred to the command’s Violent Crime Response Unit for further investigation, while efforts were ongoing to apprehend the fleeing suspect.
Adegoroye reaffirmed the command’s commitment to safeguarding lives and property across the state and urged residents to continue providing timely and credible information that would support police operations against criminal activities.
