The Oyo State Police Command has praised the officers of the Western Security Network codenamed Amotekun for their collaborative efforts in dousing the tension created by the invasion of scores of hoodlums who unleashed terror on residents of Aderogba and other communities in Bere area of Ibadan.

The hoodlums, who had invaded the Aderogba community late on Thursday night looted shops, set a building and a shop on fire, thereby forcing some shop owners and residents to flee the area.

The Police Public Relations Officer in Oyo State, Olugbenga Fadeyi, in a statement reacting to the attack said that efforts of security agents doused the tension in the area, adding that the hoodlums were pursued and a locally made gun was recovered from one of them.

The statement read, “Hoodlums from these areas came out in the early hours of Thursday, 29th January 2021 in their usual manner with dangerous weapons to loot shops and set up bonfires. A house and about two shops were looted.

“The swift response of police patrol teams doused tension and the hoodlums were dislodged. Routine patrols were intensified to forestall further attacks and lootings.

“Sequel to this, at about 8:15 pm, the hoodlums from Aderogba area came out again attempted to vandalize and loot shops at Beyeruka/ Ogbori Efon areas. Police patrol teams and that of Amotekun were drafted to the area. During the hot chase by the teams, a cut-to-size dane gun was recovered from one of the hoodlums while bonfires set up were put out. The hoodlums thereafter fled the scene.”

”Constant routine patrols have been intensified in those areas and normalcy restored. The police are on the trail of these hoodlums to get them arrested and carry out prosecution accordingly.”

Meanwhile, some family heads (Mogajis) that visited the scene of the attack on Friday have called on residents of the area to collaborate with security agencies for better security in the area.

The Mogaji Adanla, Abduljelyl Adekunle Karheem, who led other mogajis to sympathise with the residents of the area also appealed to the youths in the area against reprisal.

He said, “Security agencies need to do more and the people also need to collaborate with them for better security. They should have the telephone numbers of security agencies. If they had numbers of relevant security agencies, the response would have been faster and the attack would have been stopped quickly.”