OPC arrest, hand over 10 armed robbery suspects to police

The Yoruba socio-cultural group, the Odua Peoples Congress (OPC), Oju-Oro Zone 1, Aboru, Lagos State, said it has arrested and handed over no fewer than 10 armed robbery suspects to the police in the last six months. The group also said it has been collaborating with security agencies in protecting pipelines belonging to the Nigerian […]

The Yoruba socio-cultural group, the Odua Peoples Congress (OPC), Oju-Oro Zone 1, Aboru, Lagos State, said it has arrested and handed over no fewer than 10 armed robbery suspects to the police in the last six months.

The group also said it has been collaborating with security agencies in protecting pipelines belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in the Aboru area.

Daily Trust reports that over 100 houses and 50 shops, as well as vehicles, were burnt last year in a fire outbreak arising from a vandalized pipeline at Abule Egba, Lagos.

The OPC coordinator, Oju-Oro Zone 1, Abayomi Olamilekan, briefing journalists yesterday on the activities of the group in the last six months, attributed the organization’s success in its crime-fighting effort to co-operation from the residents of the zone and officers of the Nigerian Police.

Olamilekan said the OPC in the area, under the leadership of Ambassador Oludare Adesope Oodua, had been doing the task voluntarily without being paid either by any government, organization or residents.

Two residents of the area, Mr Tajudeen Raji, alias No 1, and Mr Olisa Megafu, alias King of Boys, told our correspondent that the OPC had been the security backbone in Aboru and its environs and had brought calm to the area “as the activities of criminals had been curbed.”

The Secretary of the OPC in the zone, Adekola Saheed, assured the residents that the organization would continue to assist the police in ensuring adequate security for the area.

Saheed, however, called for financial support and tools from the state government for the OPC “to enable it work harder and record more successes in fighting crime.”