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The embattled Oyo transport kingpin, Mukaila Lamidi, also known as Auxiliary, has reacted to reports that he has been declared wanted by the state police.
Auxiliary, who was recently deposed by Governor Seyi Makinde as the chairman of the disciplinary committee of the Park Management System (PMS) in Oyo State, spoke from his hideout.
The transport kingpin went into hiding after escaping arrest during a police raid on his house on Tuesday, May 30, 2023. The police also stormed his hotel, Diamond Hotel, on the same day and rounded up 78 members of the PMS loyal to Auxiliary.
Meanwhile, according to a statement by the Oyo police command’s spokesperson, SP Adewale Osifeso, on Friday, June 2, 2023, police went back to Diamond Hotel on Wednesday to execute a search warrant.
Osifeso said weapons discovered during the search include 70 rounds of AK-47 ammunition and 400 cutlasses. 400 pieces of live cartridges, 13 pieces of 9-MM ammunition and one pump action rifle
Other weapons include nine locally made pistols, nine jack knives, three axes, and three swords among others.
This development prompted the police to declare the fleeing transport kingpin wanted for an alleged gun-running offence.
Auxiliary speaks from the hideout
Reacting to the police allegation, Auxiliary, who spoke on Saturday morning from his hideout on a live radio programme in Ibadan, disowned the weapons police claimed to have recovered from his residence.
“When I’m not a fool, how could I have hidden or stockpiled those weapons at my residence?” Lamidi said.
Speaking further, the ex-PMS boss said Governor Makinde remains his destiny helper, adding that he's committed to peace and would abide by any decision the governor takes on the transport unions.
Auxiliary also debunked claims linking his loyalists to the violence perpetrated in Ibadan a few days ago, saying he's a peace-lover, who could not have turned the state into a theatre of war over the dissolution of the PMS by the governor.
He, however, cautioned his boys who may be planning to foment trouble or engage in any act of violence in Ibadan or any part of the state to desist from such plans.
The former PMS boss also reiterated his readiness to cooperate with the reform and integration of other driver unions into the PMS, as he also declared his willingness to accept the outcome even if it doesn't favour him.