Oyo state Police commissioner, Adebowale Williams have said that the 147 passengers intercepted by Amotekun in Ibadan on Tuesday are traders and not bandits.
He said in Ibadan on Thursday that the arrested person’s have been thoroughly searched and interrogated to allay all fears.
Police reveal movement of bandits and kidnappers
Williams, in a statement by the spokesman of the Oyo State Police Command, Adewale Osifeso, said on Wednesday that the passengers who are aged between 12 and 30 years were profiled by police, Department of State Services (DSS), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, (NSCDC) and Amotekun had been handed over to security operatives in neighbouring Ogun State.
He said the passengers, who were travelling from Zamfara State to Ogun State in a truck, were found to be farmers and traders, adding that items found on board the truck included motorcycles, bags of beans and onions.
He said: “At about 1500hrs on Tuesday August 2, a Blue Iveco truck with reg No. BWR 143XD, driven by one Abdulahi Aliu ‘m’ age 30 years and conveying about 147passengers comprising 140 male passengers between 12-30 years, four adult female passengers and three female children were intercepted along Iyana Bodija-Iso Pako, Ibadan by members of the public. Preliminary investigations revealed that the truck and its passengers who are predominantly farmers and traders were heading to Ogere, Ogun State from Kaura Namuda, Zamfara State.
“Subsequent upon the above, the Blue truck was thoroughly searched and its passengers profiled by a combined team of the police, men of the Department of State Services and Western Nigeria Security Network, codenamed Amotekun to eliminate possibilities of ferrying escapees from any recorded jailbreaks within the country.
“The search revealed that the truck was conveying eight motorcycles and bags of beans and onions to be dropped off with their owners at Bodija Market.
“Upon the conclusion of the process, the truck and its passengers were escorted out of the state and have since been handed over and received by security operatives in Ogun State.”
