The Ondo State Police Command has arrested 14 suspects following a mob attack on the Ala Divisional Police Headquarters in Akure North Local Government Area, during which two police officers sustained gunshot injuries.
Gatekeepers News reports that the violence erupted when an angry crowd attempted to seize two suspects allegedly linked to the murder of a farmer, Rasheed Hassan, in the General Camp area of the Government Reserve Area.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Abayomi Jimoh, disclosed the development, saying the victim’s killing was reported to the police a few days before the attack.
“Upon receiving the report, police operatives visited the scene and recovered the victim’s body,” Jimoh said.
He added that preliminary investigations revealed deep cuts on the victim’s head and other parts of his body, while his personal belongings were reportedly missing.
According to him, detectives immediately launched an investigation to identify and apprehend those responsible for the killing.
Jimoh explained that the situation escalated after the Ala Youth President reportedly apprehended two suspects in connection with the murder.
“While conveying the suspects to the police station for necessary action, he was confronted by an angry mob demanding that the suspects be handed over for extrajudicial killing,” he said.
To protect the suspects from the crowd, the youth president reportedly sought refuge at the Ala Divisional Police Headquarters. However, the mob pursued them and launched an attack on the police facility.
“The crowd threw stones and other dangerous objects at the station while resisting efforts by police rescue teams to gain access to the area,” Jimoh stated.
He said tactical and other rescue teams were deployed to restore order and successfully rescued the two suspects from the mob.
However, the patrol team conveying the suspects back to Akure came under attack, leaving two police officers with gunshot injuries.
“During the incident, two police officers sustained gunshot injuries from pellets allegedly fired from a youth pump-action firearm. The injured officers were immediately rushed to a nearby hospital for urgent medical attention,” the police spokesperson said.
Following the incident, police operatives arrested 14 suspects over their alleged involvement in the assault on the officers and the attacks on the police station and rescue team.
Jimoh said investigations were ongoing to establish the individual roles of those arrested and ensure that anyone found culpable faced the full weight of the law.
He added that the command had maintained tactical deployments in the area to prevent further violence, noting that normalcy had returned to the community while security monitoring continued.
The Commissioner of Police, Felix Ohagwu, condemned the attack on the police officers and the facility, describing mob action and attempts to obstruct lawful police operations as unacceptable.
“No individual or group has the right to take the law into their own hands, regardless of the gravity of any alleged crime,” the commissioner said.
