Operatives of the Ogun State Police Command have arrested three suspected land grabbers, including an ex‑convict, for allegedly terrorising Gbayunre village in Ado Odo, Ota Local Government Area. The men—Kola Owolabi, 39, and two others, Sunday Owoyele, 32, and Idowu Ayobami, 32—were taken into custody for dislodging a family from its landed property in the area, according to a statement released on Monday by the state’s Police Public Relations Officer, SP Abimbola Oyeyemi.
Oyeyemi said the police received a petition from the Dada Gbabi family of Gbayunre village, alleging that a group of land grabbers led by Joseph Ayodele invaded the village with dangerous weapons and forced the family out of their property in the Atan Ayunre area. Acting on the petition, the Commissioner of Police directed Deputy Commissioner of State Criminal Investigation Departments, DCP Babakura Muhammed, to investigate and bring the culprits to justice. In response, DCP Muhammed deployed a team of detectives to the scene, where three members of the syndicate were apprehended. Their leader, Ayodele Joseph—who is on the command’s wanted list for a series of violent land‑grabbing incidents in Ado Odo, Ota, and surrounding areas—escaped.
One of the arrested suspects, Kola Owolabi, had previously been detained for snatching a rifle from an officer; he was overpowered, charged in court, and remanded in prison custody. During the operation, police recovered assorted criminal charms and weeds suspected to be Indian hemp.
Oyeyemi urged Ayodele Joseph, the gang’s leader, to report to the State Criminal Investigation Department in Eleweran, Abeokuta, in his own interest. He warned that failure to do so would result in the gang being pursued and brought to justice, emphasizing that the command will not stand by while unscrupulous elements make life difficult for innocent members of the public.
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