ABEOKUTA — The Ogun State Police Command has arrested 25 commercial
motorcyclists, popularly known as okada, in connection with violent
clash at the premises of the Federal High Court, Abeokuta, where dozens
of people were severely injured.
The warring members of the
Amalgamated Commercial Motorcycle Owners and Riders Association,
ACOMORAN, in the state had gathered in the court over a suit filed by
the former Secretary of the association, Lateef Yekini, challenging his
alleged detention sometime ago by the association’s Chairman, Alhaji
Shamsudeen Apelogun.
However, shortly after the case was
adjourned by the presiding judge to December 3, the association’s
members began to fight at the court premises, leaving the state ACOMORAN
Treasurer, Razaq Sotayo, critically injured.
An eyewitness told
Vanguard that the hoodlums freely used dangerous weapons, including guns
and machetes, forcing many people in the area to scamper for safety.
It
was gathered that the sporadic gunshots of the okada men attracted the
attention of security agents from the military, Police, Department of
State Services, DSS and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC,
who restored normalcy after some of the fighters were apprehended.
Confirming
the incident, the state Acting Police Public Relations Officer, Mr.
Abimbola Oyeyemi, disclosed that no fewer than 25 suspects had been
arrested in connection with the fracas.
Oyeyemi, an Assistant
Superintendent of Police, said normalcy had already been restored and
that the suspects would face prosecution.
He said: “Currently,
about 25 hoodlums were arrested and they are undergoing interrogation.
They are going to be screened. Those who were not part of the fracas
will be definitely released.
“But those who perpetrated the act
are going to be prosecuted at the law court. Few people sustained
injuries, but I cannot confirm their number at the moment.
“Our
own concern is to bring the situation under control and make sure those
who perpetrated the act are dealt with according to the law.”
Meantime, the Apelogun group had accused the former Secretary of inviting security agents into the matter.
Apelogun,
who spoke with newsmen, absolved himself from the fracas, saying it was
the former Secretary that mobilised armed hoodlums from Ibadan and some
neighbouring towns to cause crisis.
He said: “The former
secretary was facing criminal charge at the Magistrate’s Court over
embezzlement. He later sued me for unlawful detention, even though I’m
not a security agent.
“Today (yesterday), the presiding judge asked us to bring all our trustees to court.”
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