Law enforcement agents recently caught up with a gang of five suspected criminals that specialised in dismantling and coupling stolen motorcycles in Ilorin, capital of Kwara State.

CRIME DIGEST gathered that a team of policemen in Ilorin arrested the suspects following a tip-off.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Olufemi Fabode, confirmed the arrests. He said the police recovered 10 dismantled motorcycles from the hideout of the suspects.

Fabode alleged that the suspected criminals often stole motorcycles from their owners, dismantled and coupled them again in another form before selling to unsuspecting members of the public.

He urged the Ilorin residents to be wary of people living around them, adding that they should be mindful of the spots where they park their cars and motorcycles because of the activities of criminals in the city.

He urged members of the public to alert the police as soon as they observe suspicious movements or people around them.

Fabode said, "A team of police officers at Adewole, after a tip off, arrested five suspects who specialised in stealing and dismantling of motorcycles. When we got to their hideout, we recovered 10 motorcycles already dismantled.

"We met them in their hideout where they dismantled motorcycles, removed the registration numbers, dismantled the chassis and engine numbers and coupled them with different ones. After dismantling and coupling, they sold them as new motorcycles. We recovered 10 of those motorcycles they dismantled."

Fabode said that at about 2 pm on July 3, the police, acting on a tip off, arrested three suspects namely, Akowe Bright, 23; Asas Kayode, 22; and Jubilee Boya, 23, allegedly for inter-state robbery.

He said the police arrested the suspected robbers in a motor park in Omu-Aran on the suspicion that they belonged to a robbery gang on a spy mission within the town.

Fabode stated that the suspects, upon their arrests, confessed to the police that they came from Agbor in Delta State to rob. He added that N34,000 was recovered from them.

Fabode said an investigation conducted by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad in Ilorin showed that the suspects belonged to a gang of inter-state robbers.

He said the suspects travelled from Agbor on June 30, to Offa in Kwara State to engage in armed robbery.

The PPRO added that the suspects lodged in the same hotel room in Offa and later stole money and goods from shops while pretending to be customers.

He said the suspects extended their operation to Omu-Aran on July 3, which was a market day, on their way to Offa after a successful operation. The police received information about them the same day and arrested them at the motor-park.

Fabode said that when the suspects' hotel room at Offa was searched, some provisions and goods they had allegedly stolen from different shops during their operations were recovered.

He added that after their arrests, some traders claimed to have been attacked by the suspects.

Meanwhile, two robbery suspects, Yusuf Olaitan 'M' and Olasunkanmi Emmanuel 'M,' who allegedly dispossessed a man of his Honda CRV at gunpoint in Lagos, were on July 27 arrested by the police.

Fabode said police officers attached to 'F' Division, Tanke, got information of the snatched green SUV with registration number Lagos FM 666 LND and later sighted the jeep within Tanke Area of Ilorin.

He added that the police operatives from Tanke Division immediately swung into action and after an intensive manhunt, arrested the two suspects at Eiyenkorin.

He said the stolen vehicle was recovered from where the suspects had parked it within their premises.

He stated that the owner of the jeep was later contacted and he identified his vehicle and the two suspects as being among the robbers that attacked him.

Fabode said the suspects and the recovered vehicle had been transferred to Federal Special Armed Robbery Squad for further investigation and prosecution.

The PPRO said a SARS patrol team stationed along Osi/Eruku Road, Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State, on highway anti-robbery patrol intercepted two suspects with a Nissan Primera station wagon car with registration number Abuja GU 993 ABC.

He added that the vehicle was loaded with some household electronics strongly suspected to have been stolen or unlawfully possesed by the suspects.

"On interrogation, the two suspects, Alao Wasiu 'M' of Lagos and Dayo Adeniji 'M' of Abuja could not give satisfactory account of the vehicle.

"When the vehicle was searched, the vehicle documents bearing a woman's name with a different registration No. CM 250 LSD was recovered under the driver's seat.

"Preliminary investigation conducted at SARS office has linked the arrested suspect and the recovered vehicle with a notorious armed robbery suspect, Rilwan Bello 'M,' who has been on the wanted list of the police command in connection with many armed robberies and car snatching cases. This further gives credence to the suspicion that the vehicle might have been stolen or unlawfully obtained.

"The two arrested suspects have been arraigned in court accordingly, while efforts are still being made to locate the genuine owner of the vehicle through the documents found inside the vehicle," Fabode said.