Osun Police Arrest Suspect After Gun Battle Leaves Officers Injured

(The suspect. Photo Credit: The Sun Nigeria)

Following a gunfight in which three police officers were shot and injured, the Osun State Police Command announced on Tuesday that it had detained one suspect.

The suspect was detained in relation to the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) crisis in Osun State, according to Police Public Relations Officer Abiodun Ojelabi, who paraded the suspect on behalf of Police Commissioner Ibrahim Gotan.

Ojelabi disclosed that a distress call was received by the command at about 5:30pm on Monday, reporting that a group of hoodlums were shooting sporadically in the Oke-Ijetu area of Osogbo.

He said a team of the Anti-Robbery and Violent Crime Response Unit swiftly responded, and on arrival at the scene, hoodlums suspected to be members of a faction loyal to one Wakili Alowonle opened fire on the police operatives, during which three security operatives sustained varying degrees of gunsh0t injuries and are currently responding to treatment in hospital.

During the encounter, operatives arrested one suspect, Adedeji Saheed Opeyemi, who reportedly confessed that he had been informed by an associate identified as Sibi that Alowonle had called for a meeting at the Oke-Ijetu area of Osogbo.

According to the account, Sibi met him with two pump-action guns and handed one to him. He is said to be assisting police with investigations aimed at arresting others still at large.

The suspect reportedly narrated that some people had wanted to take over a garage under a four-year certificate they held, and expressed surprise on arrival to find mobile policemen already stationed there, which left them unable to act.

He said their leaders had mobilised them to meet at Ijetu, but their leader, Comrade Wakili Nurudeen Alowonle, was not physically present and instead spoke to them by phone, instructing them to remain alert but avoid causing trouble until directives came from the governor.

He said police met them at the scene, and that five among them were armed, though he claimed he could not shoot and had only been handed the gun by Sibi.

He said an argument broke out among their group over the garage takeover, which led to shooting at the policemen, but that he personally did not fire his weapon and instead handed it over to police, stating that he did not believe they could fight the government.

He identified Sibi, who gave him the gun, as being from Ile-Ife, while he himself was from Station Road.

Similarly, police arrested three suspected motorcycle snatchers: Kamarudeen Babatunde, 39; Lekan Usman, 22; and Moses Oyebade, 40.

Police said that on July 19, 2026, at about 7:30am, a distress call was received from a complainant reporting that his Bajaj motorcycle, with registration number MEK 987 VU, had been snatched from his rider in the Osunjela area of Osogbo.

Following intelligence analysis, the motorcycle was traced and recovered in Modakeke at about 9:30am, with two suspects arrested alongside their receiver, Moses Oyebade of Ondo town, Ondo State.

All suspects and the recovered motorcycle remain in custody for further investigation.

Police also arrested two suspected political thugs, Alawode Ridwan, 26, and Ajibade Ahmed, 33, following a distress call on July 16, 2026 at about 2:20pm reporting that the duo were causing mayhem around the Amadia area of Osogbo. Detectives swiftly responded and apprehended the suspects.

Ojelabi said all the suspects would be charged to court upon the completion of investigations.