The Ondo State Security Network Agency, also known as Amotekun corps, has arrested no fewer than 67 men for allegedly engaging in kidnapping and some other crimes in the state.
The suspects were said to have been arrested by the Amotekun corps in collaboration with the police, army, the Department of State Services and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, in various parts of the state in the last two weeks.
Parading the suspects at the headquarters of the command in Akure, the state capital, on Monday, the Commander of the corps, Adetunji Adeleye, noted that many of the suspected kidnappers had been identified by their victims, confirming their involvement in the crime.
Adeleye said, “We have a good number of suspected criminals arrested during operations across Ondo State. The 67 criminals were arrested within the last two weeks of rounding off of Operation Ember Months programme that we embarked on.
“A good number of them were suspected kidnappers while a good number of them were identified by their victims. Some of them were arrested with different types of weapons, some of them involved in housebreaking, some suspected robbers and murderers.”
According to the commander, three out of the suspects escaped from the prison while facing some criminal charges in Benin, Edo State.
“Out of these 67, we have three who could be regarded as jailbirds. One of them escaped from Benin, according to him, where he was answering charges bordering on kidnapping and robbery. Another one who claimed to be running away from fellow kidnappers because he was not joining them again, and we were also able to arrest him in what he termed his last operation in kidnapping, before we arrested him.
“He told us he is a member of a seven-man kidnap group terrorising the USO/Emure/Owo areas. These are a cross-section of criminals troubling the peace of the state.
“The major reason for parading them is to send the signal to criminals that Ondo State cannot tolerate them and the government is resolute in ensuring that the peace and stability of the state is not disturbed by them”, Adeleye explained.
While appealing to the people of the state to always inform the security agencies of anybody or group with suspicious movement in their environments, the Amotekun boss said the corps remained resolute in “our determination to continue to make Ondo State safe for our socio-economic activities.”
