DPO’s death: Police arrest 49 suspects in Oyo

The Oyo State Police Command has arrested 49 suspects in connection with the killing of a Divisional Police Officer (DPO) at Adekile area of Ibadan, the state capital.
Commissioner of Police, Mr Mohammed Katsina, said this on Wednesday while presenting the suspects to newsmen at the command’s headquarters, Eleyele, Ibadan.
Katsina identified the deceased DPO as CSP Ikeokwu Nworgu.
He said Nworgu was attacked by some hoodlums while trying to carry out his legitimate duty at the Adekile area of Orita Aperin.
“The hoodlums inflicted fatal machete cuts on him and also shot him.
“They made away with his service pistol and set the house allegedly used for ritual purpose and two others on fire after looting valuable property therein,’’ he said.
He said the command swung into action immediately it received the news of the DPO’s killing.
“As I speak to you, 49 of those callous murderers and arsonists have been arrested.
“The machetes, guns, charms and other lethal weapons used in committing the crime have been recovered.
“Also, some properties looted from the scene have been recovered,’’ the police boss said.
Katsina, who described the late DPO has a committed and dedicated officer, saying his “only crime was that he found himself working in a community where cumulative act of savagery has become their regularities.
“That community is known for that criminal act before the DPO’s death which occurred last week, three of my officers in separate occasion also lost their lives to the hoodlums,’’ he said.
He urged parents and elders of the community to warn their wards and children to toe the path of decency in whatever they did.
“The life of any policeman and indeed any citizen is as important as the life of any other person.
“Whoever decides to take the life of any citizen of the state will have himself to blame,’’ he warned.
The killing of the DPO in Adekile followed an alleged discovery of a kidnappers’ den in a storey building in the area.