From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
A policeman attached to the Oyo State Police Command has lost his life, while another was seriously injured during a gun battle with abductors that stormed the Ibadan axis of Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Friday evening.
The abduction reportedly took place at about 6:30pm along the Dominion University end of the highway. A university lecturer was said to have been among the victims of the abduction.
The Police Public Relations Officer for the state, Adewale Osifeso, a Superintendent of Police, who confirmed the incident, said in a statement he made available to journalists in Ibadan that on Friday October 28, “at about 18:35hrs, operatives of the Command attached to Toll-Gate Division, received information about sporadic gunshots heard along the Dominion University end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
“In swift response to the above, the Divisional Police Officer led a team comprising Anti-Crime Patrol Operatives, tactical teams, Police Mobile men and local hunters for immediate rescue and further intervention.
“During the process of prevailing and preventing further chaos from what was evidently an abduction scenario, an officer attached to the command paid the supreme price, with one other badly injured and presently responding to treatment.
“So far, expended ammunition shells and four abandoned vehicles were retrieved at the scene.
“Furthermore, the Commissioner of Police, Adebowale Williams, has ordered full-scale scientific and technological-aided investigations to unravel the events that led to the incident with the Deputy Commissioner in charge of the State Criminal Investigation Department leading the charge.