The police command in Oyo State has arrested four suspected gunrunners and 34 others for alleged armed robbery, kidnapping, car snatching and land grabbing.

The Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Adewale Osifeso, made this known while parading the suspects on behalf of the state Commissioner of Police Adebola Hamzat, at the command’s headquarters, Eleyele, Ibadan, on Friday.

Mr Osifeso said that items recovered from the suspects included six vehicles, 60 ammunition, nine firearms, six cell phones, three cutlasses, two motorcycles, a power generator and charms.

Mr Osifeso said that credible information about the suspected gunrunners was received by the command’s monitoring unit on Dec. 19 at 12.30 p.m.

He said that one of the suspected gunrunners was sighted in his hideout at Danzaria, Owode, Oyo town, and was arrested while in possession of a pump action rifle with number 2659.

“Upon interrogation, the suspect was unable to give any satisfactory explanation about the firearm.

“Further investigation led to the arrest of three other members of the criminal gang, who were found in possession of another locally fabricated Pump Action riffle, one live cartridge and six empty shells of expended cartridges,” Mr Osifeso said.

He said that all the suspects were unable to give satisfactory explanations about the rifles.

On the armed robbery suspects, he said that two of them, who were armed with guns, Jack knives and other criminal charms, were arrested on Christmas Day at 11.00 p.m.

Mr Osifeso said that the armed robbery suspects rode a Bajaj motorcycle and invaded a restaurant located at Bodija, Ibadan, and attacked the owner and her customers, dispossessing them of money and other valuables.

“During the armed robbery operation, some of the customers, who managed to escape, raised alarm which attracted people in the area.

“In the process, two of the suspects were apprehended.

“The suspects and exhibits were immediately handed over to the police at Bodija.

“From there, they were transferred to the Command’s Monitoring Unit for investigation,” he said.

Mr Osifeso said that the suspects, on interrogation at the unit, confessed to the armed robbery and other armed robbery operations they masterminded at different locations in the Ibadan metropolis.

(NAN)