The police command in Oyo says it will continue to maintain a proactive stance to ensure that lives and property are secure.

This is contained in a statement by police spokesman Adewale Osifeso on Wednesday.

According to the police, communal partnerships with stakeholders, confidence-building patrols and technology-based surveillance were part of strategies to keep the state safe.

Police commissioner Adebowale Williams warned against spreading falsehood and unverified information likely to cause panic, said the statement and advised the media and public against spreading false information over the 140 passengers arrested in Ibadan.

”Preliminary investigations revealed that the truck and its passengers who are predominantly farmers and traders were heading to Ogere, Ogun state from Kaura Namuda, Zamfara,” the police statement explained. ”The blue Iveco truck with reg no. BWR 143XD, driven by Abdulahi Aliu, 30, was conveying 147 passengers comprising 140 men aged between 12 and 30 year, four women and three girls.”

The police command added that the truck was “thoroughly searched and its passengers profiled by a combined team” of the police, SSS and Amotekun (Western Nigeria Security Network) to eliminate “possibilities of ferrying escapees from any recorded jailbreaks” within the country.

“The search revealed that the truck was conveying eight motorcycles and bags of beans and onions to be dropped off with their owners at the Bodija Market. Upon the conclusion of the process, the truck and its passengers were escorted out of the state and have since been handed over and received by security operatives in Ogun,” added the police statement. 

(NAN)