The Ondo State Security Network Agency, well known as Amotekun Corps, has arrested 28 suspects allegedly involved in robbery, kidnapping, and other crimes across the state.
Commander of the corps, Adetunji Adeleye, while parading the suspects at the agency’s headquarters in Akure on Tuesday, said they were apprehended in different parts of the 18 local government areas through joint operations with local vigilantes and other security agencies.
He said, “Today, I am parading a total of 28 suspects and I want to let you know that the criminal world is evolving.
“Therefore, Ondo State Security Network Agency Amotekun always strives to be ahead of them.
“We have now gone beyond arresting criminals and suspects alone. As we talk now, we are after their godfathers and backbones, and the reason is simple. So we are saying that until we uproot them, we won’t have total peace.
“We need the socio-economic growth of Ondo State to continue to increase. By the intervention of Amotekun Corp, the IGR of Ondo State in 2023 increased by over 500 per cent and we don’t want to relent. Hence, our fight is not against the criminals alone, but against their sponsors.
“The people we are parading today, there is a section of them that steal, kill, murder riders and dispossess them of their motorcycles.
“They have already made market receivers, who, within minutes, dismantle and sell to those who will later assemble and sell.
“We’ve gone after them and we’ve arrested the suspect, we’ve arrested the sponsor, we’ve arrested all the culprits.
“The chain of criminality had to be broken and uprooted, and that is the directive of His Excellency, the Governor of Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, to create an enabling environment for investors to bombard Ondo State.
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“So today, four suspected kidnappers were arrested in the Elegbeka area. They are Kwangi, Kwanji, Kana, Kana, Sam, and Daniel, ages ranging between 18 and 27.
“On rape and fraud, we have Abiola, aged 24. We have equally on defilement, rape, and sexual assault, one Ogungbemi. And we have Tosin on assault. To the Fulani communities, their cattle were rustled and taken away from the Igbara Oke axis.
“We went after the Fulani that stole the cattle, retrieved the cattle, arrested the rustlers, who are Abubakar Musa and Umar Mohammed, aged 20 and returned the cows to the Fulani men.”
The Amotekun boss commended the other security agencies in the state for collaborating with it in the fight against crime and criminality.
He stated, “We are here today to let you know that the security architecture of Ondo State is firm, and the best criminals can do is to run away from this state.
“The joint patrol team in some parts of the state is still ongoing. And I can tell you this for free that we have dominated the forest. It is no longer a safe place for criminals to thrive.”
In July, the corps arrested seven suspects for various offences, including kidnapping and the theft of electronics in the state.