The police in Lagos State are on the trail of some suspected kidnappers, who allegedly laid in ambush for a police team from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, led by one Inspector Fola Oyeniyi.
The cops were said to have tracked down the gang members, who a police source said were behind the kidnapping of Mrs. Toyin Nwosu, the wife of the Deputy Managing Director, Sun Newspaper, Mr. Steve Nwosu, to their hideout in the Agboju, Ago-Okota area of the state.
PUNCH Metro had reported that Toyin, who was abducted on September 14 from her residence on Baale Street, was released three days after.
Our correspondent gathered that the SARS team had arrested the ring leader along with four other accomplices, identified as Malik, Sanni, Ibrahim and Yawu, and were about to leave the area when other members, who had gone into hiding, reportedly opened fire on the police team. It was learnt that the shooting caused confusion, leading to the escape of the suspects.
It was learnt that the suspects, while fleeing the area, smashed Oyeniyi’s head and escaped with his AK47 rifle, which was later recovered from a dustbin in the area.
However, two youths – Ibrahim Palau, 22, and 25-year-old Sanni Samaila – believed to have been involved in the shootout between the gang and the police – were apprehended and arraigned before an Ikeja Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday on charges brodering on attempted murder and stealing.
One of the policemen, who participated in the raid, said they wanted to remove a barricade on the road when their assailants surrounded them.
He said, “On September 15, Inspector Fola (Oyeniyi) led us to Agboju to track the kidnappers of Toyin (Nwosu). When we got to the Okota Police Division, we located the hideout of the prime suspect in Agboju. We arrested him with four members of the gang. As we were moving out of the area, we saw that some people had blocked the road. Some of us came down from the patrol van to remove the barricade. Suddenly, we heard gunshots and took cover.
“The gang injured Inspector Fola and took away his Ak47 rifle. He was injured in the legs, head and hand. The two suspects that were arrested were hit by stray bullets fired by their gang members.”
But Palau, who hails from Katsina State, said he came to Lagos recently in search of a job, adding that he was not part of the gang. He said he was eating in a shop when a stray bullet hit him in the leg.
He said, “I came to Lagos recently for a job. I was hit by a bullet in the leg around 8pm when I was eating. I was sleeping in one container when some policemen came around 1am to arrest me and some others. I did not know the guys that attacked the police.”
Samaila, who claimed to excavate sand for a living, said he was a victim, adding that he knew some of the fleeing suspects as residents of the community.
“I am a labourer and after my daily work, my friends and I normally sleep at an open place. When I returned from work around 8.30pm on the fateful day, I was about to eat when I heard gunshots. The bullet hit me in the left leg. I know Malik and Yawu, but I did not know the person that took the gun.”
A police prosecutor, Inspector Benson Emuerhi, who brought Palau and Samaila before a chief magistrate, Mrs. O.A. Olayinka, said the charges preferred against them were punishable under sections 112, 107, 244 (a) and (b), 285 (1), 278 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2011.
The charges read in part, “That you, Ibrahim Palau, Sanni Samaila and others at large on September 16, 2015, at about 9pm at Okota, Lagos, in the Lagos Magisterial District, while armed with cutlasses and other weapons, did unlawfully inflict injury on Inspector Fola Oyeniyi, attached to SARS.
“That you, and others at large, on the same date, time and place did aid one Maliki, Sanni, Ibrahim and Yawu, who were involved in a case of kidnapping, to escape from the police.”
The accused pleaded not guilty to the charges and were granted bail in the sum of N250,000 each with two sureties in like sum.
The case was adjourned till November 3, 2015.
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