Saturday, January 27, 2024, apprehension and pandemonium engulfed Harmony Quarters and its environs in Elewuro, Akobo, Ibadan, Oyo State, as security operatives stormed the community to arrest two non-Yoruba men, who are Nupes from Niger State, allegedly operating a laboratory of illegal mining activities.
This is coming less than two weeks after the explosion incident at Bodija, Ibadan, which was linked to the storage of explosives in the area by illegal miners.
Witnessing the operation are the representative of Governor Seyi Makinde and the Chairman of Lagelu Local Government, Kazeem Gbadamosi.
It was gathered that the security operatives that launched the operation are members of the Nigerian Army, Police, Directorate of Security Service (DSS), and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC). In the house where the operation took place, different chemicals were found.
The two men have been detained at the Oyo State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (State CID).
Speaking on the incident, the Chairman of the Central Working Committee (CWC) of the Ifedapo Elewuro Community, Ashiru Adebayo, popularly called Dangote, a former Chairman of the Harmony Quarters stated that for almost a year the house has been a source of concern to the members of the community because those living in the house and what they do are unknown to the community members.
He stated that on several occasions, the executive members of the community have attempted to find out those living in the house but did not succeed as there had never been a response whenever they knocked on the gate to interact with the house’s occupants.
According to him, “We don’t know who is living in the house. We don’t know what is being done there. This made us write to the Oyo State Commissioner of Police to help us investigate the house and the occupants. Interestingly, the commissioner responded within a week by ordering his men to do the needful. The police came today with a search warrant to search the house and interrogate two persons met in the house. When we entered the house, we found out that all the rooms were laboratories and we saw lots of chemicals.”
Ashiru said that the occupants of the house had confessed to the police that they are into mining business and the place is use as a lab for their activities.
It was further gathered that there are many criminals including fraudsters called Yahoo Yahoo boys living in the many of the estates in Akobo area.
