The Osun State Police Command has denied allegations that its operatives shot at innocent residents playing football in the Ogo-Oluwa area of Osogbo, during an operation carried out by officers of the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID on Sunday.

In a statement issued by the Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gotan and signed by Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Abiodun Ojelabi, the Command said the operation followed a petition submitted to the Office of the Inspector-General of Police on May 2, 2026, over a viral video allegedly showing suspected members of the AYE Confraternity displaying firearms and other dangerous weapons.

According to the statement, “the petition was later forwarded to the Osun State Police Command for investigation and further action.”

The command said, “detectives thereafter launched a thorough investigation aimed at identifying and prosecuting those linked to the incident.”

The police explained that “operatives, acting on intelligence, identified one of the suspects seen in the viral video and moved to apprehend him at his hideout in Osogbo.”

The suspect, identified as Semiu Baruwa, was alleged to have participated in vandalising billboards in parts of the state capital.

The statement noted that “the operation was disrupted when some suspected hoodlums and thugs allegedly attempted to prevent officers from taking the suspect into custody for questioning. The development created tension at the scene and endangered the lives of the operatives.

“The situation became violent and posed serious threats to the safety and lives of the operatives, thereby necessitating the police officers to fire warning shots into the air to disperse the mob and safely extricate themselves from the scene.” 

The command maintained that no innocent resident was targeted during the exercise and insisted that the officers acted in line with operational safety procedures. 

“The actions of the operatives were in strict compliance with operational safety procedures aimed at protecting lives and ensuring public order,” the police added.

The police disclosed that the suspect is currently in custody and assisting with ongoing investigations, while efforts are continuing to arrest other persons linked to the incident and those accused of obstructing lawful police duties. 

The Commissioner of Police also urged residents to remain calm and support security agencies with credible information.

DAILY POST gathered from eyewitnesses that armed police operatives on Sunday morning stormed a football field on Baruwa Street, Ogo-Oluwa, Osogbo and shot sporadically in the air.

This development caused the football players, spectators and residents to scamper for safety.

Also, worshippers at nearby churches in the area abandoned service halfway, with some of them clutching their children, expressing fear that bandits may have raided the community.

A popular community leader who craved anonymity told DAILY POST that, “We didn’t prevent them from doing their job. We just asked them why they would come and arrest a football fan who was busy enjoying a game on Sunday morning.

“When they did not give us a satisfactory response. We told them they would not go with him. That was when the shooting start,ed so we all had to run for cover.”

The Kano State Police Command has arrested three suspects and recovered stolen vehicles in a crackdown on car theft in the state.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday.

He said the arrests were made on May 16 when operatives of the Command’s Special Intervention Squad acted on credible intelligence and apprehended three suspects linked to a stolen Toyota Camry.

The suspects were identified as Abel Nanlir Nafa from Abuja, Stephen Wanneh from Kaduna State, and Habiba Mohammad from Kano State.

According to the statement, one of the suspects admitted that the vehicle, a black Toyota Camry 2015 model without a registration number, was stolen from Enugu State and handed to him for sale.

“The suspect confessed that the vehicle was stolen and he was aware of its status when he received it for sale,” the police said.

The police added that the second suspect also knew the car was stolen and was invited to assist in selling it, while the third suspect said she contacted a buyer from the Niger Republic who agreed to purchase the vehicle for N1.5 million.

The stolen Toyota Camry has since been recovered, while efforts are ongoing to arrest other suspects still at large and identify the rightful owner.

In a related development, the command also recovered two additional suspected stolen vehicles during a follow-up operation at the residence of a fleeing suspect identified as Haruna Ibrahim in Kano.

The recovered vehicles include a red Hyundai Sonata 2016 model without a registration number and an ash-coloured Hyundai Elantra 2014 model with registration number KMC 523 TF.

“The Command urges anyone who recognises any of the recovered vehicles to come forward with proof of ownership,” the statement said.

The Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Adamu Bakori, commended the operatives for their efforts, noting that the operation reflects the success of intelligence-led policing.

He also called on residents to remain vigilant and continue to support the police with timely information, assuring that all reports would be treated confidentially.

A residential building on Tewo-Gbore Street, Ogele Ori-Sunbare, in the Eyenkorin area of Asa Local Government Area of Kwara State, was gutted by fire in the early hours of Sunday.

A room-and-parlour self-contained apartment and a two-bedroom flat were affected in the incident, which occurred around 12:38 a.m.

The spokesperson for the Kwara State Fire Service, Hassan Adekunle, in a statement on Sunday, explained that firefighters responded immediately after receiving a distress call from the area.

The statement said the timely intervention of the firefighters prevented the blaze from spreading to nearby structures and limited the extent of the damage recorded during the incident.

The spokesperson said, “Preliminary investigations traced the cause of the fire to improperly quenched charcoal stored within the vicinity of the residential building.”

Findings, according to Adekunle, showed that sacks of charcoal had just been unloaded, and part of the charcoal was not completely extinguished. He said that, upon exposure to air, the residual heat reignited and worsened the situation, resulting in the fire spreading to the building.

Alabi Muhammed, Director of the Kwara State Fire Service, while reacting to the incident, advised charcoal dealers, transporters, and residents against the careless handling and storage of combustible materials capable of retaining heat.

He stressed the need to avoid storing combustible materials close to residential buildings and urged residents to remain vigilant and promptly report fire outbreaks to emergency responders.

The agency assured the public of its commitment to safeguarding lives and property through proactive emergency response and public safety sensitisation across the state.