The Oyo State Government has stepped up its offensive against criminal networks with the demolition of a sprawling residential compound in Ibadan allegedly used as a storage facility for a large cache of military-grade arms and ammunition.
The operation, carried out on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, is part of the state government’s renewed efforts to dismantle the infrastructure supporting kidnapping and banditry across Oyo State.
The affected property, located in the Gbenku area along Arubiewe Road off the Olodo Garage axis of Ibadan, comprised a main storey building and two detached bungalows enclosed within a heavily fortified compound.
Overseeing the demolition, the Commissioner for Public Works and Transport, Hon. Abdulmojeed Mogbonjubola, disclosed that the discovery of the weapons followed an intelligence-driven operation by security agencies conducting a cross-jurisdictional investigation.
According to the commissioner, Governor Seyi Makinde personally authorized the demolition under emergency executive directives, stressing that the administration is determined not only to apprehend criminal suspects but also to destroy properties and logistical bases linked to violent crimes as a deterrent.
Addressing journalists at the scene as excavators brought down the structures, Mogbonjubola reaffirmed the state’s zero-tolerance stance on insecurity.
“The state government remains completely uncompromising in its zero-tolerance policy against insecurity,” he said.
He warned landlords, housing agents and property owners across the state to properly scrutinize prospective tenants, stating that any property found to have been used for storing weapons or detaining victims would not only be demolished, but its statutory Right of Occupancy (R-of-O) would also be permanently revoked.
The commissioner added that the presence of a heavily armed facility within a residential community underscores the importance of active community policing and heightened vigilance among residents and neighborhood associations.
The latest action marks the third major demolition linked to criminal activities within nine days.
Eight days earlier, the government demolished a three-bedroom bungalow in the Lako Community along the Ayegun-Anaye Road axis of Ibadan after it was identified by the Force Intelligence Department–Intelligence Response Team (FID-IRT) as the forest-border hideout where the younger sister of former Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, and her 12-year-old twin sons were held during a 72-hour kidnapping ordeal earlier this month.
Also, on Monday, the state government razed a market located at Mobil along Ring Road following intelligence reports that the facility had become an urban transit hideout for criminal elements.
As security forces remain deployed across border forests in response to the ongoing school hostage crisis in Oriire Local Government Area, authorities have intensified operations within Ibadan metropolis.
Security agencies have urged residents in the Olodo area and other parts of the city to remain calm but vigilant, encouraging communities to strengthen monitoring mechanisms for new tenants and promptly report suspicious late-night vehicular movements to law enforcement agencies.
