A gang of five Yoruba Nation agitators who stormed a radio station Sunday morning in Ibadan to declare secession from the Federal Republic of Nigeria has been apprehended by the police.

At about 6:00 a.m. on Sunday, the agitators hijacked broadcast activities from the staff of Amuludun FM, seized their phones and proclaimed the establishment of a Yoruba Nation and secession from Nigeria on air.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Adebowale Williams, paraded the suspects at the Command Headquarters, Eleyele, Ibadan on Sunday.

Mr Williams said that operatives of the command, while on intelligence driven patrols, got a distress call that some members of a group driven by a separatist agenda, had forcefully hijacked a radio broadcast station, Amuludun 99.1 FM, located around Moniya, Ibadan with the intent to declare liberation from the Federal Republic of Nigeria. 

He said that the command responded swiftly in a well coordinated rescue operation and arrested the suspects. 

Mr Willams said that no personnel from the establishment or any other persons were hurt in the incident. 

The commissioner of police said that he had detailed an investigation team, led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the State Criminal Investigation Department, to demystify the circumstances around the incident.

The team was also directed to expand the network of arrests through painstaking intelligence-driven investigation.

He declared the act as criminal, unpatriotic and a clear case of terrorism which would be met with adequate sanctions under the laws of the land. 

“The Oyo State Police Command remains unwavering and committed to the statutory constitutional requirements of protecting lives and property and as well preserving law and order, even as the state and indeed nation geared up for Monday’s inauguration of its elected leaders.

“I assure good citizens of the state that the security architecture of the command, in concert with relevant sister agencies, has been strategically modified for optimum effectiveness for tomorrow’s epoch-making ceremony and beyond,” he said.

Mr Williams said the security architecture of the state had been beefed-up to comprehensively tackle any evolving or emerging security challenge which could pose a threat to the nation’s stability.

He called on parents, guardians and leaders wielding various degrees of influence to prevail on their children against being used to disrupt Monday’s inauguration as heavy sanctions awaited defaulters and other unpatriotic elements sharing the same sinister motives.

The suspects were arrested in possession of various charms and clothes with the inscription: “Yoruba Nation Police, Yoruba Nation Army.”

One of the suspects said somebody popularly called Black Lion instructed them to hijack the station and go on air that Yoruba Nation had been established and there was nothing the police or the Nigerian Army could do to them.

The suspect said that the person that instructed them was not resident in Nigeria and that they contacted him through phone calls.

He further said that they were not promised any money before carrying out the incident, adding that he travelled down to Ibadan on Friday. 

(NAN)