Two suspected armed robbers were on Saturday arrested by men of the Ogun State police command after a gun duel.
Police said the suspects, one 30-year-old Solomon Aghofure from Delta State and 37-year-old Emmanuel Mathew from Abia, were nabbed “while operating at Sagamu interchange area of Lagos-Ibadan expressway” around 1:30am.
A statement from the Ogun State police spokesperson, Abimbola Oyeyemi, the suspects and their gang had already positioned themselves at the interchange, ready to attack commuters plying the road.
According to Oyeyemi, the gang had opened fire on the passing patrol team led by the area DPO, CSP Okiki Agunbiade.
The team was said to have engaged the robbery gang in a shoot-out, “at the end of which one of them sustained gunshot injuries and was subsequently apprehended.”
It was learnt that other members of the gang had escaped into the bush, leaving behind their operational vehicle.
“The bush was thoroughly combed from where the other suspect was also arrested.
“A police corporal attached to the team also sustained gunshot injuries on his leg and was rushed to the hospital for treatment.
“On interrogation, the suspects informed the police that they were five in number in their gang, they gave the names of others as Uche (aka 2 million), Arinze and Uzor.
It was revealed that the three escaped suspects are ex-convicts and had served jail terms in Okitipupa and Sagamu.
“It was after their prison term that they formed the gang and recruited them,” Oyeyemi said.
Meanwhile, the state Commissioner of Police, Edward Ajogun, has ordered the transfer of the suspects to the state CIID, adding that fleeing members of the gang be hunted down.