The Ondo State Security Network Agency, also known as Amotekun Corps, has arrested 10 suspected criminals across the state for involvement in various criminal activities.
The corps said the suspects were allegedly involved in crimes such as kidnapping, theft, destruction of public property, and robbery, among others.
The Commander of the corps, Akogun Adeleye, who spoke while parading some of the suspects on Monday at the headquarters of the corps in Akure, the state capital, said the suspects were notorious and had been terrorizing the people of the state in recent times.
Four of them were paraded while the commander said the six others were under investigation, which would precede their parade.
He said, “Today, we are parading four notorious suspects. In addition, we have another six sets of criminals that were arrested in the last two weeks in Ondo State in connection with robbery and kidnapping. For the fact that we had not concluded the investigation on those, they will not be paraded.”
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Some of the suspects paraded are Ogungbemi Adebayo, Nasiru Suleiman, Saliu Nureni and Ahmed Oladimeji. According to Adeleye, one of the suspects, Adedayo, was arrested for allegedly being an informant to criminal Fulani herdsmen to attack villagers.
“For the four that we are parading today, we have Ogungbemi Adebayo, who confessed voluntarily that he is an informant to kidnappers in the Ademekun power line at Ago Dada camp. He is aged 29, said he was recruited a couple of months ago, and he thought they wanted him to just plant in their end until when they recruited. They brought him into Ademekun farmland and told him point-blank that he has to be trained on the use of an AK-47.
“He successfully went through the training. The Fulani men trained him on the use of the AK-47, and he has been working for them until the joint patrol team of the Civil Defense and Amotekun, with the assistance of the regent and people of Ademekun village, arrested him, and he also confessed to them and us.”
“In the same way, we have Nasiru Suleiman, who, for over three months, has been dismantling a government caterpillar moving equipment parked in a government yard along Akure-Ondo road. They actually came there with the hirer, and we can show you where we put some of the very big engines we recovered from them.
“We have Saliu Nureni, 57, who was arrested around NEPA market for robbery, setting ablaze the property of the victim, and threatening to kill the victim. We also have Ahmed Oladimeji, arrested with a generator and alternator he stole around Igoba in Akure.”
Adeleye also disclosed that three of his men had been suspended for engaging in acts that contravened the rules of their engagement with the corps.
“As we stand today, the three of them have been reprimanded. They are also declared wanted, and due diligence must be exercised in handling such in a security environment where oaths of allegiance and secrecy to the state cannot be taken lightly. We refused to be dragged into the controversies surrounding each of them.
“But the fact remains that they are acting in isolation, and the Ondo State Security Network Agency, Amotekun Corps, remains solid, as you can see the entire management staff in ensuring that we are not distracted. They are acting in isolation.
“The three of them have been suspended from the corps, and we are looking for them to come and answer as a way of giving them free access to criminal justice. If they are innocent, everybody will see. But the corps, as an entity, will not be dragged into social media controversy with people who are acting in isolation. Especially now that we are sure and have proof that they are being sponsored.”
