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Oyo state police Command has paraded 16 suspects in connection with the abduction of two officials of West African Examination Council (WAEC) in Oyo State.
They were arrested in their hideouts along Kishi-Igboho road and Inside Old Oyo National Park.
Three of the suspects were identified as Mohammed kote, Mohammed legi and Kire Baguda.
While parading the suspects at the command’s headquarter in Eleyele, Ibadan, Commissioner of Police in the state, Abiodun Odude, said the hoodlums numbering about 25 are mainly herdsmen recruited by one Kire, a notorious armed kingpin reported to have come from Zamfara.
Kire is still at large.
Odude said the suspects “were responsible for the death of some of their victims while other victims were kept in their seemingly impregnable fotress of the Old Oyo National Park for some days before being freed after collecting huge ransom from their distraught and helpless family members.
“The suspects were arrested in their hideouts by command’s Special Anti Robbery Squad in Collaboration with the local vigilante group between March 7 and 17 2018.
“The suspect confessed to the various heinous crime perpetrated in the areas.
“The suspects and 13 others arrested along with them are currently assisting us in our investigation with a view to arresting other members of the gang currently at large and recover other sophisticated weapon still in their armory.”
The police said items recovered from the suspected criminals include four locally made single barrel guns, three cutlasses, seven mobile phones, N67,420 and a Bajaj Boxer motorcycle with registration number 607 WZ.
One of the suspects, Mohammed Kote, told journalists that their gang leader simply identified as Kire came from Zamfara with some members of the bandits and introduced them into armed robbery and kidnapping
The suspects reportedly carried out their activities along Kishi-Igboho-Igbeti axis in the state.