Just In : Amotekun arrests 21 suspected kidnappers, 25 others
The Ondo State Security Network Agency (also known as Amotekun) has arrested no fewer than 43 suspected criminals across the 18 Local Government Areas of the state.
This came four days after some persons believed to be bandits abducted occupants of an 18-seater bus, killing the driver and leaving only a three-year-old kid in the bus along the Akunnu-Ayere Road at the border of Ondo and Kogi states.
Parading the suspects at the headquarters of the command in Akure, on Monday, the Commander of the corps, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye, said the suspects involved in various criminal activities.
According to him, out of the 43 suspects, those allegedly involved in kidnapping were 21.
He said, “Today (Monday), we have 43 suspected criminals picked from across our various operations across the 18 Local Government Areas of Ondo State. The astonishing thing about our parade today is the sudden upsurge in the suspects that we have on kidnapping.
“About half of the 43 are suspected kidnappers that we have reasonable reasons to question. We actually have over 50, but those we have reasons to question why they were where they were, and what we found of them around the things of kidnap across the state, are these ones you are seeing today.
“I want to trace this to the heavy presence of security personnel in Ekiti and I want to believe that they are being driven to Ondo State, but we want to tell you that Ondo State can never be a safe haven for criminals.”
The commander said the corps had risen to the challenge of ensuring security in the state and that all of them that were picked in kidnap scenes, during kidnap, and during attempt to kidnap with credible victims around to identify some of them, were the ones being paraded.
Adeleye added that some of the suspects were arrested with local arms and ammunition and were not able to justify what they wanted to do with them.
“This week, we have a sharp decline in the number of housebreaking because we have begun a foot walk especially on Sundays when people have gone to church and during working hours when people are at work,” the commander noted .
On the abduction of the travellers, the Ondo Amotekun boss, said the state governor, Mr Lucky Aiyedatiwa, had given the corps an order to ensure the victims were rescued unhurt .
“As of yesterday (Sunday) morning, a combined team of security men, specifically army and police personnel from Kogi and Ondo states, and Amotekun from Ondo, joined hands together to try to fish out the perpetrators of the last kidnap around Akunu/Ayere area in the Kogi/Ondo border.
“The actual thing that you saw on social media happened in between those two communities and we have been raising the alarm that in places that we don’t have the grassroots local security that we can work with, we have been having issues. We are happy, however, that they joined and collaborated with us and the search still continues.
“We have been able to go this far because the governor specifically gave a directive to fish out all these perpetrators of evil, especially along the border. He also gave a directive to all security agencies to ensure that this week and next week, we will be honouring our late governor, the father of Amotekun in the South-West, that there must be no security breach.”
Punch
