The Osun State Police Command says operatives of its Anti-Robbery and Violent Crime Response Unit have arrested a group of hoodlums who were shooting sporadically at the OKJ2 area of Oshogbo, the state capital. According to the command, the operation followed a distress call, after which a team was quickly drafted to the area.
On getting to the scene, the command said, the hoodlums opened fire on the police operatives. Three officers sustained various degrees of injury from the gunshots, and were said to be receiving medical attention for their wounds.
The police said the exhibits recovered from the suspects included six expended cartridges, four vehicles and four motorcycles, as well as military camouflage and what the command described as criminal charms.
Speaking on the incident, the state police spokesman said the force had more than ten suspects in custody, all arrested the previous day. He described the detainees as members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, known as the NURTW.
According to the police, the suspects confessed during questioning that they had procured arms and ammunition in order to launch another attack. The command said investigations were still ongoing and that it did not want to disclose further details that could jeopardise the inquiry.
The arrests come against the backdrop of a wider crisis linked to the NURTW in Osun State, in which rival factions and political camps, including the ruling party and the opposition Accord Party, have traded blame over recent violence and killings in the state.
The police spokesman said the command was drawing up security plans not only for the coming governorship election but also for the period after it, warning that weapons left in the wrong hands could later be turned against residents. He appealed to the public to cooperate with the police and urged voters not to be gripped by fear, insisting that the election would be peaceful.