…How relationship with Seyi Makinde went sour
CITIZENS COMPASS— Popular transporter in Oyo State, Surajudeen Babatunde Adio popularly known as Surii Ilupeju, has narrated his own side of the story concerning the demolition of his house by the state government.
Surii’s house located in the Olodo area of the State was demolished about two weeks ago.
Surii, a former executive member with the Park Management System (PMS) in Ibadan was said to be a former lieutenant to another popular transporter in the State, Mukaila Lamidi popularly known as Auxiliary who is currently being remanded by a Chief Magistrates Court.
Surii is said to be an associate of popular broadcaster and Oyo State Governorship candidate under the platform of Accord Party, Alhaji Oriyomi Hamzat.
In a viral video monitored by Citizens Compass over the weekend, Surii who broke into tears said the demolition of his property has political undertones.
The transporter exonerated himself from the charges levied against him by the state government.
In an emotional laden voice, he said: We thank God, we thank Nigerians for their support.
It’s a political matter. We have been with Seyi Makinde since 2025 when we contested elections but lost. We recontested in 2019 and 2023 and won gallantly.
Suddenly, we noticed that the governor invited some transporters to a meeting including our boss, Alhaji Mukaila, notifying them that the system of operations had changed and that additional tickets would be issued to transporters henceforth.
However, our bus responded that the tickets were too many and could compound the existing challenges at various motor parks.
He advised the governor to aim towards ameliorating the sufferings of residents.
The following day, the governor asked our boss to resign, a failure of which may not augur well with him.
On May 29, 2023 when Makinde was sworn in as the governor, we organised a party to celebrate this at a hotel owned by our boss when some hoodlums stormed the venue to disrupt the event and forcefully relieved our boss of his duties.
Also, they transferred power to the secretary, Wasiu Omolewa.
Following the sudden change in government, some members defected to Wasiu’s camp but I remained with our boss until he was arrested and remanded at the correctional center for the past three years.
Barely five months ago when our boss, Oriyomi Hamzat,declared his governorship ambition, I joined his team unfortunately this turned out to be my undoing.
A prominent transporter queried me for joining Hamzat’s team but I ignored him and he threatened that I will regret my action.
He intimidated me with the Department of State Security (DSS) but I never thought he would go far with this.
On May 29, 2023, my commercial buses were stopped from operating and I packed them in my compound.
On July 11, 2026, I travelled to Lagos to spend some hours only to receive a distress call in the night that some police officers were in my house conducting a search but nothing incriminating was found.
The information at my disposal was that they ordered the occupants of the house to lie flat and turned their faces down.
20 minutes later, they ordered the occupants to turn their faces up. While the occupants were lying down, some incriminating items had found their way into the house and were displayed by the officers.
Before anybody could say Jack, they arrested five people including my first born,
The following day, I was preparing to return to Ibadan to find out what was happening when I received another call that the police officers came to pack tangible items in the house including vehicles, documents, chairs and pets.
Three days later, they brought bulldozers to demolish the house.
I am a transporter and many Nigerians are aware of this.
I know nothing about the allegations against me.
I am being intimidated and implicated for something I know nothing of. Nigerians should come to my aid.
Recently, Oyo State Police Command issued a statement which reads: Further to the earlier press release issued by the Oyo State Police Command on 13th June, 2026 on the arrest of one Surajudeen Babatunde Adio, popularly known as “Surii Ilupeju”, and four others in connection with suspected armed robbery and unlawful possession of firearms, the Command wishes to inform members of the public that ongoing investigations and further interrogation of the suspects have led to the recovery of additional exhibits linked to the case.
Following sustained investigative efforts and thorough exploitation of available intelligence, operatives of the Command carried out additional recovery operations, resulting in the discovery and seizure of the following items:
Additional Firearms and Ammunition Recovered:
• One Pump-Action Gun;
• One Single-Barrel Gun;
• One Single-Barrel Cut-to-Size Gun;
• Two Single-Barrel Locally Made Pistols;
• One Double-Barrel Locally Made Pistol;
• Twenty-Three (23) Live Cartridges;
• Eight (8) Live Rounds of AK-47 Ammunition.
In addition to the recovered firearms and ammunition, further operations also led to the interception and recovery of several vehicles believed to be relevant to the ongoing investigation.
Additional Vehicles Recovered:
• One Mazda Bus, Registration Number FFE 08 XB;
• One Hummer Bus, Registration Number MUS 246 CK;
• One BAW Bus, Registration Number KTU 688 YG;
• One Toyota Bus;
• One Toyota Bus, Registration Number BDG 117 YK;
• One Toyota Bus, Registration Number BRS 842 TW;
• One Toyota Sienna, Registration Number LSD 68 CJ;
• One Ford Sharon, Registration Number FKJ 39 EW;
• One Toyota Sienna, Registration Number BDG 986 SA;
• One Toyota Previa;
• One Nissan Cabstar.
Furthermore, the recovery exercise extended beyond vehicles and uncovered additional motorcycles and assorted items considered relevant to the investigation.
Additional Motorcycles and Other Items Recovered:
• One Suzuki Inazuma Power Bike;
• One Blue Honda Motorcycle (Scrap);
• One Red Honda Motorcycle (Scrap);
• One Bajaj Boxer Motorcycle (Scrap);
• Large quantities of Accord Party hats, shirts and face caps.
As investigations progress, the Command wishes to state that efforts remain ongoing to establish the ownership, relevance and possible connection of the recovered items to reported criminal activities within and outside the State. Efforts are equally being intensified to identify and apprehend other persons who may be linked to the syndicate.
In line with these sustained enforcement and investigative measures, the Commissioner of Police, Oyo State Command, CP Abimbola Ayodeji Olugbenga, psc, mnips, reassures residents of the Command’s unwavering resolve to sustain intelligence-driven operations against armed robbery, cultism, kidnapping and other violent crimes.
Consequently, members of the public are encouraged to continue supporting the Police with timely and credible information while remaining law-abiding. The Command assures that all information received shall be treated with strict confidentiality.
