The Ogun State Police Command, on Sunday, said it had arrested three members of a robbery syndicate for allegedly dispossessing patients at a private hospital on Omolaja Odunbaku Street, Oremeji, Ibafo, in the Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of the state, of their valuables.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Abimbola Oyeyemi, disclosed this in a statement in Abeokuta.

Oyeyemi said the suspects, Folarin Azeez, 25; Temitope Bolariwa, 24; and Kolade Ahmed, 30, had on December 7, 2019, invaded the hospital and robbed patients of their belongings such as phones and wristwatches, among others.

He said the suspects were arrested five days after they allegedly committed the crime.

Oyeyemi explained that the suspects, who escaped into a nearby bush, were later apprehended in the Shimawa area of the state.

He added that 12 different types of android and iPhones as well as wristwatches, which the victims later identified as theirs, were recovered from the suspects.

Oyeyemi stated:

“Three members of a robbery syndicate were on December 12, 2019, arrested by men of the Ogun State Police Command for carrying out a robbery in a hospital on Omolaja Odunbaku Street, Oremeji area of Ibafo in the Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of the state.

“The suspects were arrested following a distress call received by the police emergency centre on December 7, 2019, that armed robbers had invaded the Riverside Hospital and dispossessed the patients of their belongings.

“On receiving the distress call, the DPO, Ibafo, SP Abiodun Ayinde, led his anti-robbery team to the scene, where the suspects, on sighting the policemen, escaped through the nearby bush.

“The police didn’t relent in their efforts to apprehend the hoodlums and their efforts paid off on December 12, 2019, when intelligence investigation revealed that the hoodlums were hibernating somewhere in the Shimawa area.

“The DPO and his operatives moved to the area, where the three suspects were subsequently apprehended.

“Recovered from them were 12 different types of android and iPhones as well as wristwatches, which the victims later identified as their stolen belongings.

“While investigation was ongoing, the command got information about the earlier robbery escapades of the suspects somewhere in Osun State.”

The PPRO said the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Kenneth Ebrimson, had ordered the immediate transfer of the suspects to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad for an in-depth investigation into their various robbery activities.

“The CP also warned that any criminal, who choses to come to Ogun State with the intention to perpetrate any form of crime, will have himself or herself to blame as the command is ready to take the battle to the doorstep of the criminals,” Oyeyemi added.