Police bust motorcycle-snatching syndicate in Ogun

Operatives of the Ogun State Police Command have arrested three members of a motorcycle-snatching syndicate terrorising the Owode-Egba area of Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area in the state.

The Command’s Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, disclosed this in a telephone conversation with PUNCH Online on Tuesday.

She stressed that the suspects were apprehended following a reported attack on a resident of Ijemo Kukoyi village along the Shiun-Owode Expressway.

Our correspondent learnt that the victim, Rotimi Bajela, informed the police that the suspected robbers had ambushed him. The robbers reportedly shot at him, but the shot did not harm him, prompting them to attack him with a machete.

Odutola recounted, “On 11 October 2024, a concerned resident provided valuable information that led the police to apprehend the suspects who attacked one Rotimi Bajela.

“The report indicated that 60-year-old Rotimi Bajela was leaving Ajura Township and riding towards Ijemo Kukoyi Village via Owode-Egba on his Boxer Bajaj motorcycle, whose registration number is not yet known.

“As he travelled along the Ajura/Olojo/Shiun road, three men emerged from the bushes and assaulted him with a gun and a machete. During the attack, the assailants shot him; when the gun failed to harm or kill him, they resorted to hitting him with the machete on his head and neck, robbing him of his motorcycle, money, and an Itel mobile phone.”

Bajela also identified the suspected robbers as Adegboyega Sarafa, Soliu Bankole, and Sogo Idris, alias Agbara.

Armed with the identity of the suspects, police operatives tracked and arrested the trio, recovering a locally made gun and the machete used in the attack.

Odutola stated, “When the police visited Bajela at the hospital during their investigation, he confirmed that he recognised the attackers and could identify them as Adegboyega Sarafa, 42; Soliu Bankole, 38; and Sogo Idris, alias Agbara, 46.

“All three suspects were arrested on 14 October 2024, and the locally made gun and machete used during the attack were recovered.”
She concluded that further investigations into the matter have commenced.

PUNCH Online had reported on 23 September that three suspected robbers terrorising the Ejirin community in the Ijebu-Ode Local Government Area of Ogun State were arrested at their hideout in Lagos State.
(https://punchng.com/ogun-notorious-armed-robbers-nabbed-in-lagos/)

Odutola had informed our correspondent that their arrest followed the apprehension of one member of the syndicate, who had gone to rob the Cele Ejirin community.

Odutola stated that upon the arrest and interrogation of the first suspect, identified as Qudri Yusuf, he led police operatives to their hideout in the Idioro area of Mushin, Lagos State, where two other members of the syndicate were arrested