Police Deploy Personnel To Restore Normalcy At Apata Axis

The Oyo State Police Command has deployed its officers to restore normalcy around Apata Junction Market, Apata Area under Ido Local Government Area.

According to a press release signed by the Oyo State Police Public Relations Officer, SP. Adewale Osifeso said, “Today Saturday, 04/02/2023 at about 1015hrs while embarking series of confidence-building patrols around different black spots and flash points, the joint convoy patrol comprising of the Police and other agencies ran into a band of hoodlums around Apata Junction Market, Apata Area under Ido Local Government Area.

“In a rather surprising event, the hoodlums who had perfected plans to molest residents harass shop owners, and loot shops on sighting the combined convoy of security launched a series of unprovoked attacks by firing guns, hurling stones, sharp objects, and other dangerous missiles at them.

“The trained officers, cautious of the level of casualties that might be recorded should they engage at the location, resorted to restraints and professionally took charge at the scene while arresting the situation with reasonable force in line with standard operational procedure.

“However, during the rage, an individual identified to have been a member of a vigilante group and who was reported to have died in the fiasco has since been deposited at a government hospital for post-mortem.

Meanwhile, normalcy has since returned to the area with heavy deployment of patrol teams and other tactical assets visibly on the ground.

The Command spokesman further said that the Commissioner of Police has directed that the Deputy Commissioner of Police in Charge of the State Criminal Investigation Department leads the investigating team with a deadline for results as an arrest was made.

Recall the Command issued an advisory via a press release dated Friday 3rd February 2023 with the intent to intimate residents about concluded plans of some criminal elements to destabilize and completely bring to a halt economic activities in the State by launching coordinated attacks on critical infrastructures to include INEC facilities, Banks, Correctional Centers, Religious Centers, Landmarks, recreational Centers, Shopping Malls, Business Centers, Public Spaces and other places of interest under the guise of protesting the scarcity of fuel and paucity of cash for dispense at ATM Machines and Point of Sales Terminals.