Atleast thirteen people have been apprehended in connection with Monday’s attack on the convoy of officials from the Oyo State Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, led by its commissioner, Abdulmojeed Mogbonjubola.
OyoAffairs on Monday reported that the ministry officials had gone to the Mobil area on Ring Road, Ibadan, for a routine evacuation of shanties and the removal of illegal occupations of public spaces. Some suspected hoodlums however attacked the team during the exercise.
However, their vehicles were pelted with objects by the occupants in resistance to the enforcement exercise. The windows of some of the vehicles were shattered in the ensuing melee, although no ministry official was injured.
Following the incident, the ministry reported it to the State Commissioner of Police, Ayo Shonubi, on Monday. Acting on the report, a combined team of the police, Amotekun, and Civil Defense stormed the area on Tuesday morning, arresting 13 suspects who were then taken to the state police headquarters in Eleyele, Ibadan.
Reacting to the incident, the Oyo Environment Commissioner stated that the attack would not deter him from his commitment to eradicating illegal occupation of public spaces.
He emphasised that the state would continue to remove indiscriminately placed shops, structures, and shanties, and he advised residents to use government-approved neighborhood markets for their trading.