The Oyo State Security Network Agency, Operation Amotekun on Saturday denied link of its operatives with the killing of a student of the University of Ibadan.
Oyo state Commandant of operation Amotekun, Colonel Olayinka Olayanju (retd) stated this in a statement made available to journalists in Ibadan.
According to the Oyo state Commandant of Amotekun,
“operatives of the Amotekun corps only had an encounter with a three-man robbery gang, neutralised its leader and handed the two surviving members to the Atiba Police Station in Oyo town”.
“On Sunday 20th December, 2020, at about 0040hrs ( past 12midnight), a mobile patrol team of “Amotekun operatives from Oyo East and Atiba Local Government Areas ran into an illegal road block mounted around Sabo area in Oyo town, opposite old Isale Oyo Community Bank along Oyo – Ogbomosho express way.”, he said.
Col Olayanju (rtd) added, “While the team was attempting to clear the barricade to facilitate smooth passage for interstate commercial vehicles plying the road, a group of armed men suspected to be robbers fired at the Amotekun Operatives and a gun duel ensued.
In the process, one of the robbers nicknamed Akin Sarz was neutralized and two others gang members were arrested at the scene with a locally made pistol with cartridges”.
“The men of Nigerian Police from Atiba were called to the scene while Amotekun operatives handed over the two arrested armed robbers along with the corpse of Akin Sarz to men of the Atiba police.The Atiba Police later handed over the surviving gang members to the State CID Iyangaku for further investigation”.
Col Olayanju (rtd) noted further “preliminary investigation conducted at Atiba Police post revealed the identity of the deceased as a student of the Federal College of Education Special(SPED), Oyo and a known cultist”, saying “the gang members confirmed that the deceased was their gang leader and that they have been terrorizing the general area of Afijio and Oyo Township for some time”.
The Amotekun Commandant stated, “the questions to ask are “what would a responsible student be doing with handheld gun and bullets at a barricaded spot on a major highway in Sabo Area (Atiba LG) a distance of about 10kms from Akinmorin in Afijio Local Govt. by 1 am?
“What was the so called student doing with a locally made pistol (lethal weapon) at the spot were he was shot ? Could it be a coincident that he was in company of two other gang members who were neither students nor family members at about 1 am without any criminal intents? Why did leaders of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) Oyo State hide the fact that they visited the scene of the incident on Tuesday, 22nd December, 2020 at about 2pm in company of members of Nigerian Police and DSS?
“Can NANS Oyo State deny the fact that members of the community at the scene confirmed the criminal activities of the deceased and his gang members in the area for sometime? It is sad that a responsible organization would allow itself to be used as a tool to discredit Amotekun and score cheap political points against the state government.
