Two suspected bandits were killed Saturday in Ogun state, with two AK-47 rifles recovered while four others fled after a gun duel with the police at Bere forest in Onigaaru area along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

Abimbola Oyeyemi, the command’s Public Relation Officer (PPRO), in a statement on Saturday, said that the feat was recorded in furtherance to bush combing operation in search of kidnappers terrorising different parts of the state.

According to him, men of the command in the early hours of Saturday engaged the suspected kidnappers in a gun duel at the Bere forest.

“This is as a result of information received by the command from members of the public that the AK47 bearing hoodlums, numbering about six were sighted in the forest, possibly waiting for the appropriate time to strike.

“Upon the information, the Commissioner of Police, CP Edward Ajogun, quickly deployed the command’s tactical teams, coordinated by the Divisional Police Officer, Owode Egba Division, CSP Olusola Oniyiku, to the forest in search of the hoodlums.

“While the combing was going on, the hoodlums, on sighting the policemen, opened fire on them, and gun battle ensued between them.

“At the end of the encounter, one of the bandits was shot dead on the spot, while others escaped with varying degrees of gunshot injuries,” he said.

The PPRO said that one of the bandits with bullet wounds was arrested in the bush but gave up the ghost a few minutes after. Two AK47 rifles with breech numbers 1983NF1040 and 1987-3-CA-1212, with five rounds of ammunition, were recovered from them.

Mr Oyeyemi said the latest rifle recovery made by the command brought it to four AK47 rifles within two weeks, adding that four sachets of tramadol were also recovered from them.

The statement added that the commissioner of police had ordered a manhunt for the remaining gang members and appealed to the public and medical facilities to inform the police if anyone with gunshot injuries was sighted in their area.

The PPRO said that one of the bandits with bullet wounds was arrested in the bush but gave up the ghost a few minutes after.