The police command in Ogun on Thursday confirmed that one trader was killed on Wednesday by armed robbers who invaded a popular phone market in Abeokuta.
SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, the police spokesman for the police in Ogun, disclosed in a statement issued in Abeokuta on Thursday that one of the armed robbers was arrested.
The statement explained that the police repelled the armed robbers who invaded the Tarmac phone market located in the Oke Ilewo area of Abeokuta.
The statement said seven armed robbers escaped, and a manhunt to apprehend them had commenced, adding that the gang stormed the market at about 5:30 p.m, shooting sporadically and dispossessing traders of expensive phones.
According to the police, the robbers were forced to flee because of the combined firepower of the police and Amotekun Corps, led by the divisional police officer, Ibara Division, CSP Abayomi Adeniji.
“On sighting the policemen, the robbers engaged them in a gun battle, but due to the superior firepower of the policemen, the hoodlums took to their heels. They were hotly chased, and with the assistance of the market men, one of the robbers, later identified as Adeniji Sakiru, 32, was apprehended,” the statement said.
It added, “Unfortunately, one Dayo Bankole, a trader in the market, who was shot by the robbers, gave up the ghost while receiving treatment at General Hospital Ijaye, Abeokuta.”
The police spokesman stated that one double-barrelled locally made gun and charms were seized from the suspect.
Meanwhile, the outgoing police commissioner, Frank Mba, has directed that the suspect be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for an investigation.