Nemesis has caught up with a notorious armed robbery suspect, Gbenga Matthew, popularly known as Orimeji (two heads), in the state.
Matthew was killed on Thursday during gun duel with the police.
Matthew, it was gathered, was shot dead during an early morning robbery incident in Akodi-Edemo community in Odo-Ado area of Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the command, Alberto Adeyemi, who confirmed the incident, said Matthew met his waterloo when he and his gang of five robbers dared operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad and shot sporadically at them during a patrol of the area.
Adeyemi said: “Early this morning (Thursday. March 12 ) the Officer in Charge of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) got a tip off that some robbers were robbing in Akodi Edemo community, so he swung into action with his men and got to the area and met about five robbers in operation and the robbers opened fire on the SARS team, but the team did their best to arrest them alive.”
He said two operatives of the SARS were wounded in the gun battle, adding: “Orimeji jumped down from the house and was trying to reload his raffle and shot the SARS men, it was at that point that our men were left with no choice but to shoot him.
“The other members of the robbery gang had escaped with bullet wounds. We are appealing to members of the public and the hospitals, if they see anybody with bullet wounds, they should not move close to them but call the nearest police station so that we can come and arrest them.
“The leader of the gang that was shot dead is Gbenga Matthew, alias Orimeji, he is a very notorious armed robber with a track record of armed robbery of about 12 years. We have arrested him on many occasions and charged him to court. He was among the escapees in the last prison break in Ado Ekiti, they call him Orimeji, Omo Bose.
“We understand that Ekiti has three notorious armed robbery gangs, so we have smashed one by the killing of Orimeji. We have intensified efforts to get the other two. “We have already mapped out strategies to get them and I cannot disclose such strategies to you here. But I can tell you that in the next two days, we will have another breakthrough that would be bigger than this.”
The PPRO said the police recovered about N120,000, $3 and a locally-made gun.
“I am sure the residents of the Akodi Edemo area would tell you that they have never seen the kind of massive gun fight between the police and the robbers that occurred around 3:15am early this morning in the area,” Adeyemi said.
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