The Western Nigeria Security Network, also known as the Amotekun Corps, on Thursday, rescued some travellers attacked by suspected robbers on the Ife-Ilesa Expressway in Osu, in the Atakumosa Local Government Area of Osun State.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the armed robbers, numbering about 20, operated on the Ife-Ilesha Expressway early in the morning.
The Chairman of the South-West Amotekun Corps, Akogun Adeleye, said his men swung into action after receiving a distress call on the presence of the robbers.
He said, “During a joint operation by men of the Amotekun Corps in Ondo and Osun states along the Ife//Ilesha/Akure road around1am on Thursday, we got a distress call that a robbery was ongoing along Osu Junction.
“So, our men rushed to the scene, which is some meters after Osu Junction. We met over 70 vehicles parked on the road and we manoeuvred to the spot, only to find that the robbers were actually at work. They opened fire on our men immediately they sighted them.
“We exchanged fire with them and pursued them into the bush. We were able to retrieve a Toyota Corolla that was stolen from the owner and some other 46 vehicles parked at the spot.”
Adeleye, who is also the commander of the corps in Ondo State, noted that before the operatives got to the scene, the robbers had injured some passengers.
This man (one of the victims) was not as lucky as others. Before we got there, he had been badly beaten and cut with machetes; we rushed him to a hospital,” he added.
Narrating his ordeal, the victim, Mathew Olakanmi, said he was travelling to Jos, Plateau State, from Lagos, to deliver a vehicle when he ran into the hoodlums.
He explained that the gunmen, whom he mistook for policemen, stopped him on the road and started shooting, adding that he managed to reverse his vehicle from the spot and escape.
Olakanmi said he, however, ran into other members of the gang, who laid ambush on the other side of the road.
“They took the car key from me and started beating us. They took all my documents and money, but I escaped from the spot. Other people in the vehicle were not lucky. They stabbed, beat and took them as hostages,” he added.
