The Oyo State Police Command, on Tuesday, arrested 78 suspected members of the disbanded Park Management System for allegedly planning to cause civil disorder in Ibadan, the state capital.
The state governor, Seyi Makinde, had earlier announced the dissolution of PMS headed by Mukaila Lamidi, popularly known as Auxiliary.
azarrest included guns, 724 live cartridges, 25 cutlasses, seven jack knives, 33 mobile phones, one laptop, charms, two vehicles and over N3m cash.
The state Commissioner of Police, Adebowale Williams, who paraded the suspects at the command’s headquarters, Eleyele in Ibadan, said, “On Tuesday, in a strategic intelligence coordinated raid around Auxiliary’s location at Diamond Hotel, Alakia-Isebo, under Egbeda Local Government, 78 suspected hoodlums who had perfected plans to unleash mayhem at the early hours of today (Tuesday) at major parts of the metropolis were arrested in possession of sophisticated firearms.
“During the raid, sophisticated firearms were recovered inside the hotel rooms and in the trunk compartment of parked vehicles within the hotel.”
The CP said though Auxiliary escaped with some of his boys during the gun duel with the police, a member of the group was gunned down.
He added that the same group was alleged to be responsible for the attack on 14 members of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria in the Agodi area of Ibadan North-East Local Government Area of the state on Monday.
Williams added, “In line with standard operational procedure, all recovered items were properly documented, packaged and recorded for onward forensics analysis and evidence purposes in accordance with the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 and all other relevant laws.”
Meanwhile, the state government, on Tuesday, shut down bus terminals in Ibadan, the state capital.
Our correspondent, who visited both the Ojoo and Challenge parks, observed that members of the Western Nigeria Security Network, codenamed Amotekun, sealed them off.