Crime
Three students hospitalized as gunmen open fire on barber’s shop
The incident reportedly occurred on Sunday at a barber’s shop in Amuta Junction, Ilesa, where the victims had gone to charge their mobile phones.
Sources in the school said that the victims, a male student and two females, after being shot at, sustained serious injuries and had to be rushed to the Osun State University Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, for treatment.
A student of the college, who spoke on condition of anonymity, during an interview with our correspondent on Monday, said what led to the shooting could not be immediately ascertained.
He, however, said the perpetrators were believed to be cultists engaged in fraternity war with some rival groups in the area.
“I don’t know what led to the shooting but we heard gunshots at a barber’s shop in Amuta where the three students had gone to charge their mobile phones.
“When we got to the scene, the male among them was the first I observed. He was shot in the stomach. He was not dead as of the time he and the other victims, who are ladies were moved to a hospital in Osogbo for treatment,” the source said.
The Public Relations Officer of Osun State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Kehinde Adeleke, who told our correspondent that the incident was reported, said details of the perpetrators of the crime were not known yet.
Meanwhile, four suspected cultists have been arrested by operatives of the Anti-Cultism Unit of the State Police Command and members of Nigeria Hunters and Forest Security Service in Osogbo.
A resident of the Olugunna area of Osogbo, where the suspects were nabbed, told our correspondent that members of rival cult groups were preparing to attack one another when a hunter passing through the area spotted them and alerted the police.
He added that during the joint raid on the hideout of the suspects, one man carrying a locally-fabricated gun was arrested.
“It was the information given to the team by a cultist that was arrested earlier that led to the arrest of another three.
“All four suspects were arrested at the Olugunna area of Osogbo on Sunday. Operatives of Anti-Cultism Group of Osun Police Command and the members of Nigeria Hunters and Forest Security Service carried out the raids,” he said.
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Yemisi Opalola, confirmed the arrest, saying that operatives of the anti-cultism squad raided the area.
By Okey Maduforo, Awka
The Violent Crime Response Unit of the Anambra State Police Command has uncovered and destroyed an armoury belonging to suspected separatist gunmen at Owerre-Ezukala in Orumba South Local Government Area.
The operation, led by Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Orebe Chidubem Matthew, followed intelligence obtained from a member of the gang currently in police custody.
In a statement issued by the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, the police disclosed that the camp had previously been dislodged by a Joint Task Force on security operations. However, some members of the gang who escaped during the earlier raid reportedly regrouped and attempted to resume operations.
According to the statement, items recovered from the armoury include one General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG) with about 2,000 rounds of live chain ammunition, two fabricated rocket launchers with 25 propellers, 10 locally-made Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), one locally-made Beretta pistol, two pump-action guns, three hand grenades, 10 rounds of K2 live ammunition, one gas cylinder, and one black Ecolac box.
“Recall that the camp was earlier destroyed by a Joint Security Team. Before the confession by the suspect in custody, intelligence had been received over time on how some escaped gang members were attempting to regroup. However, operatives of the Violent Crime Response Unit resisted and dismantled the camp following a gun duel with the unrepentant members,” the statement read.
The police further stated that some of the armed suspects fled the scene with varying degrees of bullet injuries sustained during the exchange of gunfire.
Further investigations revealed that the suspect in custody confessed to involvement in several violent attacks across Anambra State, including attacks on police facilities, the killing of security personnel comprising police, military, and civil defence officers, attacks on government facilities, and the murder of security operatives on stop-and-search duties on various roads in the state.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, CP Ikioye Orutugu, noted that with the establishment of the Violent Crime Response Unit, operatives of the command are now better positioned and more motivated to sustain offensive operations against criminal elements threatening the peace and security of the state.
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