The Ogun State Police Command has apprehended three members of a motorbike snatching syndicate terrorising Owode-Egba area of the Obafemi-Owode Local Government region.
Omolola Odutola, the Command’s Public Relations Officer, confirmed this to PUNCH Online over the phone on Tuesday.
She emphasised that the suspects were captured after a reported attack on a resident of Ijemo Kukoyi village on the Shiun-Owode Motorway.
The victim, Rotimi Bajela, told police that the suspected robbers had ambushed him.
The robbers apparently 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 further identified the suspected robbers as Adegboyega Sarafa, Soliu Bankole, and Sogo Idris (alias Agbara)
With the suspects’ identities in hand, police officers located and detained the three, reclaiming the machete and a locally manufactured firearm that had been used in the assault.
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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 case had begun.
