The Amotekun Corps, a southwest security organisation, thwarted a car robbery attempt on the Akure-Ilesa Expressway on Friday and recovered an oil-filled vehicle in the process.

Retired Brig. Gen. Bashir Adewinmbi, commander of the corps in Osun, revealed to newsmen on Saturday in Osogbo that the robbers had been attacking vehicles on the Ileki/Osu axis of the Ilesha-Akure Road for almost an hour.

He said that at at 11.46 p.m., a driver who had escaped the bandits' ambush called in an Amotekun patrol squad, who then pursued the criminals away.

“The robbers ambushed vehicles and were shooting into the air, forcing drivers to park, abandon their vehicles and run into bushes for safety.

“When the robbers, however, saw that Amotekun patrol team was coming for them, they fled the scene after operating on the road for almost an hour,’’ he said

According to Adewinmbi, after the robbers escaped, a truck that had been abandoned by its driver and was laden with gasoline and fuel was found and brought to the Amotekun office in Osogbo.

He claimed that the owner of the items was contacted and that the driver and his assistant, who had fled into the jungle, were located using the waybills that were discovered in the vehicle that was later retrieved.

According to him, the driver revealed that when they were ambushed, they were travelling from Lagos to Abuja via Lokoja.

Adewinmbi noted that  the vehicle and its contents were released to the driver on Saturday in Osogbo in the presence of officers from the incident's local police station, Ayeso Police Station, in Ilesha.

Haastrup