By Abimbola Ogunnaike
Following the recovery of 15 goats from two inter-state livestock robbers, the Osun State Police Command has told residents of the state to check the state command headquarters at Osogbo for their missing goats, an Ogun State based national newspaper reports.
The State Police operatives Wednesday, 10 May, 2023, arrested the two suspects while they were making attempts to move the animals to Lagos.
The suspects: Naheem Ibrahim, 46; and Suraju Isiaka, 33; were arrested by the Safer Highway Patrol team working along Odeomu/Sekona Road.
A statement by the police spokesperson, Yemisi Opalola, said the suspects were heading to Lagos in a Lexus SUV with the animals stolen across Osun State when they were intercepted by the policemen.
Opalola said, “Today, May 10, 2023, around 3.10am, police team from Safer Highway Patrol along Odeomu-Sekona axis, arrested the above-named suspects in possession of 14 live goats and one dead goat (she-goat).
“Upon interrogation, they confessed to having stolen the goats from different locations in Osogbo, Ikirun and lla-Orangun to be sold to one lya Bisola at Mile-12, Lagos State. More so, the suspects confessed to have been operating in Osun State since 2019.”
She said the suspects confessed that their time of operation was between 8pm and 10pm before night guards at various locations reported for duty, adding that the goats were usually sold between N5,000 and N10,000.
In an update on the incident contained in a statement by the command’s spokesperson on Saturday, the police urged residents of Osogbo, Ikirun, Obagun, Iree, Eripa, Otan-Ayegbaju and Ila, the communities where the goats were believed to have been stolen from between 9th and 10th May, to report at the command headquarters in Osogbo with proof of ownership.
The statement read in parts, “This is to inform the general public, especially the residents of Osogbo, Ikirun, Obagun, Iree, Eripa, Otan-Ayegbaju and Ila, whose goats are missing between 9th and 10th May, 2023, to report/come to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Police Command Headquarters, Osogbo, for possible identification and collection.”
Source: The Punch