Oyo: 78 park managers arrested over plan to cause mayhem after Auxiliary’s sack

According to the state commissioner of police, Adebowale Williams, 49 of the arrested suspects were males, while 29 were females.

News Agency of Nigeria • May 30, 2023

Mukaila Lamidi (Auxilliary)

The police command in Oyo State has arrested 78 members of the dissolved Park Management System (PMS), while their ring leader, Mukaila ‘Auxiliary’ Lamidi escaped arrest.

The state Commissioner of Police, Adebowale Williams, made this known to journalists at the command’s headquarters in Eleyele, Ibadan, on Tuesday.

Mr Williams said 49 arrested suspects were males, while 29 were females.

He said several arms and ammunition, charms and N3.4 million cash were recovered from the hotel of the PMS chief, now on the run.

According to him, other weapons found in possession of the suspects included 84 AK-47 rifles; 19 pump actions; 724 live cartridges; 25 cutlasses; seven cut-to-size guns, among others.

Mr Williams said the command was able to arrest the suspects and foiled their plans to cause mayhem in the state by Auxiliary-led PMS members, sequel to the immediate dissolution of the system’s disciplinary committee on Monday.

Governor Seyi Makinde had, shortly after his inauguration for second term in office, dissolved the disciplinary committee of PMS, operated by members of the banned National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).

The police chief said the command, in “a strategic intelligence coordinated raid, raided Lamidi’s location at Diamond Hotel, Alakia-Isebo, and arrested 78 suspected hoodlums.”

Mr Williams said the suspects had perfected plans to unleash mayhem in the early hours of Tuesday in major parts of the metropolis and were subsequently arrested in possession of sophisticated firearms.

“Worthy of note is that though, the PMS chieftain, Lamidi, was able to escape with some of his boys during the gun duel with the police.

“However, a member of the group was neutralised in a gun duel with the police,” he said.

Mr Williams said the same group was alleged to be responsible for the attack on 14 members of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) along the Agodi axis under the Ibadan North-East Local Government area en route to the venue of Monday’s inauguration celebrations.

(NAN)

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