Amotekun, robbers in shoot-out

*Motorists, passengers stabbed by robbers 

*As Amotekun rescues victims, recovers vehicles

Operatives of Western Nigeria Security Network, WNSN, codenamed Amotekun, in the wee hours of yesterday engaged in a shoot-out with armed robbers who mounted road-block along Ife/Ilesha expressway, robbing passengers and other motorists.

While the unspecified number of motorists were reportedly stabbed and inflicted machete injuries, four persons were rescued by the joint Amotekun operation put in place by the South West governors for a hitch-free Yuletide in the region.

No fewer than 70 vehicle owners were reportedly held hostage by the daredevil robbers

Speaking with newsmen in Akure, chairman of the joint operation of the Amotekun and Ondo State Commander of the security outfit, Adetunji Adeleye, said Amotekun operatives reacted swiftly after receiving a distress call by 1 am yesterday.

Adetunji said: “During a joint operation by men of the Amotekun in Ondo and Osun states along Ife/Ilesha/Akure road. We were on patrol at about 1 am when we got a distress call that robbery spree was ongoing along Osu junction.  

“So our men rushed to the scene, which is few metres after Osu junction, we met over 70 vehicles parked on the road and we had to manouver to the spot only to find that the robbers were actually at work. They opened fire on our men immediately they sighted them and we pursued them into the bush.

"We were able to recover a Toyota Corolla car stolen from the owner and 46 vehicles parked at the spot.”

He said the armed robbers “numbering about 20 operated on the Ife/Ilesha expressway unhindered in the middle of the night. We gave them a hot chase after they snatched vehicles, while other travellers out of fear parked their vehicles on the road.  

“The Amotekun Corps rescued four occupants of a vehicle. One man was not as lucky as others as he had been badly beaten and macheted. We had to rush him to an hospital where they administered first aid treatment.

Narrating their ordeals, one of the victims, Matthew Olakanmi said he was travelling from Lagos to Jos, Plateau State to deliver the vehicle when he ran into the armed robbers.  

Olakanmi said the armed men stopped him on the road and started shooting sporadically but he managed to reverse his vehicle but ran into other members of the gang who had laid an ambush.

“The robbers threatened to shoot and kill me and other occupants of the vehicle. I had to stop and surrender the car key," he said.

“We were flagged down on the road by the robbers I thought they were policemen only to discover that they were armed robbers.  They tried to shoot me and I had to reverse about a kilometre before I ran into other gangs.  

“They took the car key from me and started beating us. They took all my documents and money and I escaped from the spot but other people in the vehicle were not lucky. They beat, stabbed, macheted them, and took them as a hostage. I want to appreciate the Amotekun and South West governors for this initiative”

Meanwhile, Adeleye has assured “the good people of Osun and Ondo states that we will stop at nothing in joining forces with other security agencies in ensuring that criminals are chase away from this area.

Culled from Vanguard