Police Parade 106 Suspects After Raid On ‘Black Spots’ In Osun

Kazeem Badmus

A total of 106 suspects were arrested by the police after raiding some blackspots across the State of Osun.

According to the new Commissioner of Police in the State, Mr. Faleye Olaleye, the suspects were caught with “locally made single barrel gun, large quantity of weed suspected to be Indian hemp, a cross bag containing some charms and knife, a large number of hard drugs, various types of criminal charms, two stainless short cutlasses.”

Olaleye said the raids were part of his efforts to get rid of criminal elements in the state.

“In the course of the coordinated raids carried out, many suspects were arrested and transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for discreet investigation. The suspects were screened, investigated and those found not wanting were released”, he said.

Some other suspects were also paraded for alleged murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, stealing, burglary, membership of unlawful society (cultism) and unlawful possession.

Harsh Economic Situation Pushed Us To Stealing – Suspects

Two residents of Iree, headquarters of Boripe North Local Council Development Authority, Kazeem Hammed and Tayo Olaniyi were among the suspects paraded by the police for allegedly stealing five motorcycles.

Hammed and Olaniyi were arrested on October 31, 2022 by Anti-Cultism team of the police at Service Area, Osogbo where they were allegedly bidding to sell one unregistered bajaj motorcycle.

According to the police, the suspects confessed during interrogation that they burgled a motorcycle dealer shop located opposite Baptist High School, Iree, State of Osun and carted away three new motorcycles on October 21, 2022 at about 11:30pm.

The suspects, according to the police, said two of the stolen motorcycles, were stolen by another person where they were parked, leaving them with just one.

Speaking with newsmen, Olaniyi, one of the suspects, said economic hardship pushed them into stealing.

Olaniyi said they were commercial motorcycle operators but ventured into stealing because the okada business was no longer bringing enough money for them.

He said: “We went to steal the motorcycles (okada) because of the economic situation of the country. We also want to do what our mates are doing and since the job we are doing was not moving well, we decided to venture into stealing.

“We stole three motorcycles in Iree and we were apprehended during the process of trying to sell one of the motorcycles in Osogbo.

“We only stole three motorcycles; the other two the police took from us were obtained on installment payment and we are using them for our business.”