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OPC members nabbed with police guns
January 8, 2016
   

The suspects Photo: Folarin

 
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Samson Folarin

Policemen attached to the Anti-Robbery Squad, State Department of Criminal Investigation, Yaba, have arrested three members of the Odua People’s Congress with two police guns.

The suspects ─ Gbadamosi Azeez, aka Agarasha; Salami Raufu, aka Orobo; and Waheed Oseni, aka Oosa ─ were apprehended with a pump-action rifle and an AK-47 rifle after a tip-off that the men were allegedly planning to rob Mushin residents during the Yuletide.

It was learnt that the police had first arrested Azeez, who allegedly used his tricycle to ferry ammunition for the group.

The suspect was said to have led the police team to Folarin Street, Mushin, on December 29, where Raufu and Oseni were arrested.


 
Azeez, an indigene of Ogun State, denied knowledge of the guns, saying he had been called by a leader of the OPC, Olori, to drive him to meet a friend.

He said, “I am a member of the OPC and I drive a tricycle. I have been doing this for two years now. Sometime in December, 2014, I had finished working and parked my tricycle by the roadside.

“Orobo (Raufu) called me on the telephone that our leader, Olori, wanted to see me. When I got to his house, he said I should start my tricycle and take him to Ojuwoye to meet a leader of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, called No Case.

“When we got there, he asked me to excuse them. After I returned, he said he was done and we could go back. It was last week Tuesday that the police suddenly arrested me and said the meeting between our leader and No Case was to sell police guns. I have never carried a gun and don’t know about it.”

It was learnt that Azeez, however, took police detectives to meet Raufu, who had called him on the night of the incident.

Raufu, while also claiming innocence, said he only acted on instructions.

The 32-year-old motorcycle rider said Olori had instructed him to contact Azeez so they could take a gun to No Case.

He said, “Olori took a gun inside the tricycle that night and we went to Ojuwoye, where he had a discussion with No Case. He took another gun into the tricycle, and when we arrived, he handed the guns to Oseni. I have never robbed or done anything with the guns. Olori, who is at large, can explain better.”

Oseni, a baker, said after he collected the guns, he kept them in his ceilings and didn’t do anything with them until the police came and asked for them.

The 29-year-old Oyo State indigene said he collected the guns because of the respect he had for his leader.

A police source said the Force got a tip-off that the men were planning to rob with the guns, adding that they also traded in ammunition.

The Deputy Police Public Relations Officer said he would get back, but he had yet to call back as of the time of filing this report.