The Ekiti State Police Command has foiled a robbery operation along the Oye-Ikole Road, arresting two suspects and recovering stolen property.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Ekiti State Command, Sunday Abutu, said the success followed the command’s intelligence-led policing.
Abutu said in a statement issued in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday that two victims of the attempted robbery were also rescued from a nearby bush.
Explaining how it happened, Abutu said, “In the early hours of Monday, 29th June, 2026, at about 3 am, a gang of three armed hoodlums attacked a faulty petrol tanker along the Ikole-Oye Road.
“The hoodlums robbed the driver and his motor boy of their mobile phones before abducting them into a nearby bush, where they tied both victims to a tree.
“The suspects subsequently returned to the tanker, removed six truck tyres, and loaded them into an ash-coloured Ford minibus, intending to flee towards Kogi State.”
Abutu said luck ran out on the suspects when operatives of the Safer Highway Patrol, acting swiftly on credible intelligence, intercepted the vehicle, recovered all the stolen tyres, and arrested two of the suspects, Ezekiel Balogun and Usman Wada, both from Kabba, Kogi State, while the third suspect escaped and remains at large.
Abutu stated, “The arrested suspects led the police operatives to the bush where the abducted driver and his motor boy were rescued unharmed.
“The case has been transferred to the Command’s Violent Crime Response Unit for discreet investigation, while efforts have been intensified to apprehend the fleeing suspect and bring all those involved to justice.”
Abutu stated that the Commissioner of Police, Ekiti State Command, Michael Falade, had reassured residents of the command’s unwavering commitment to protecting lives and property.
According to him, the commissioner urged members of the public to continue providing timely and credible information to aid the fight against crime and criminality.