DSS, police, NSCDC, Amotekun arrest 61crime-suspects in Ondo crackdown
Afenifere worried over kidnapping, attacks in Kwara, Kogi, Oyo The Commander, Ondo State Security Network Agency, otherwise known as Amotekun Corps, Adetunji Adeleye, has said the joint security operations involving
Afenifere worried over kidnapping, attacks in Kwara, Kogi, Oyo
The Commander, Ondo State Security Network Agency, otherwise known as Amotekun Corps, Adetunji Adeleye, has said the joint security operations involving the Corps and other agencies have led to the arrest of 61 suspected criminals across the state.
Adeleye made this known at the weekend while parading some suspects in Akure, the state capital, attributing the arrests to the ‘coordinated efforts’ of Amotekun operatives, Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Department of State Services (DSS).
Also, the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has stated that the terror acts in states that share borders with the Southwest were heightening fears over bandits’ incursion into Yorubaland.
In a statement, the organisation’s National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, stated that the repeated terrorists’ attacks in Kwara, Kogi and Niger states as well as recent kidnap incidents in Ondo, Ekiti and Oyo states were worrisome.
According to him, the suspects were intercepted in a truck conveying bags of beans and were allegedly being dropped off in communities within Akure North Local Government Area of the state.
He explained that the locations - which are Ilu-Abo, Oba-Ile, Ayede Ogbese, and other neighbouring villages - flashpoints for kidnapping and other violent crimes.
Adeleye stated that 95 suspects were under investigation, noting that the 61 of them were apprehended during targeted raids in the troubled Akure North axis.
“In the last few weeks, there have been concerted efforts of security agencies in the state, especially the Amotekun, the police, the civil defence, and the DSS, in tracking the suspected criminals. And I want to say that it has actually yielded very good results.
“The 61 arrested, found in the trailer you see on the other side of this parade ground, are the suspected men that we are still profiling to determine what exactly would happen after profiling them,” he said.
He said preliminary findings by the security agencies linked several suspects to kidnapping, anti-grazing violations, burglary, fraud, cattle rustling, illegal mining, and theft cases.
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He listed another set of 12 suspects identified as Victor (31) Jonathan (34) Akpan (35) Aliu (27), Sanni (20), Adeoye (44), Ayodeji (50), Abdullahi (24), Doman (25), Isaac (20), Peter (25) and Dada (42) were connected to kidnapping cases, stating that some of them were arrested around the Akure Local Airport corridor and other hotspots in Akure North.
“These people were arrested in Iluabo Akure, Idogun-Ugbe, Alagbaka area, Ayede Akure, Iloro camp, and Ogbese,” he said.
According to him, other suspects were also picked up for burglary, stealing building materials, receiving stolen goods, and threatening lives.
Adeleye specifically mentioned that one of the suspects allegedly confessed to stealing 50 cows, while another group was arrested over illegal mining activities and attacks on landowners.
“We have Ali Abubakar who confessed to stealing 50 cows belonging to a fellow Fulani man. We apprehended him, he’s here with us, and he has promised that some of the cows are still somewhere, and he is willing to bring back a few remaining out of it.
“On illegal mining activities, we have Usman, who attempted to kill the owner of the plot where they claimed they wanted to exploit gold. There is also one Abubakar, and Aruna, that threatens the Inyeomah axis with carnivorous animals. Another Amadu, 55, and Suleiman, 20, were arrested in Elegbeka for kidnapping and illegal mining.
“On anti-grazing, we have Umai Jibril, and Hassan. I want to place it on record that we were able to achieve this with the collaborative efforts of all the security agencies in the state, especially the police, the civil defence, and the DSS and the Nigerian army,” Adeleye said.
It would be recalled that armed bandits that invaded Woro and Nuku communities in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State penultimate week killed nearly 200 people and abducted several others.
Same week, some other bandits carried out terror acts in neighbouring Kogi and Edo as well as Niger, Benue, Plateau, Kaduna and Katsina States.
According to Afenifere, “This is a very disturbing development as cases of abduction seem to be on the increase in Yorubaland.
“Incidents that occurred in places like Ondo, Ibadan, Kaduna etc, took place in the metropolis. Meaning that terror acts are no longer confined to rustic settings where government presence is thin, if at all.
“It would be recalled that masked men who forcibly took away a junior secondary school girl in Ibadan did so in the midst of the people just as the girl’s mother was dropping her at school at Challenge.
“Challenge area is on the upper end of the Ring Road area of Ibadan on the way to Lagos. Meaning that the kidnapping spot was inside the town.
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Abductions of school children and attacks on worshipping places like churches and mosques as well as markets were commonplace especially in the Northern parts of the country. Kwara had been added to the league.
“Latest report indicated that bandits sent notices of attack on some communities in the same Kwara State. Thus, serial sacking of communities and villages which used to be in the Northeast and Middle Belt is now spreading.
“In the light of the foregoing, Afenifere spokesman called on governors of Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo and Lagos as well as those of Kwara, Kogi, Edo and Delta states to urgently come up with security arrangements that would enable their people to sleep with their two eyes closed.”
Ajayi recalled that the six Southwest governors resolved at their meeting in Ibadan on November 24, last year, to work on the security of the region.
They planned to, among others, establish South West Security Fund (SWSF) and perhaps monitoring centres for the purpose of tracking would-be terrorists.
“Only in the outgoing week, Ogun State government inaugurated close circuit television centres (CCTV) for the same purpose.
“It is, however, not debatable that banditry and terrorism are continuing not because there is no information on or about bandits and terrorists. Terrorism is becoming pervasive because even the information available is not being processed and used in the interest of the people.
“Rather, it, in many cases, even serves the interest of those who are clearly ‘the enemies of the people!
“For instance, the head of Woro village in Kaiama, Kwara State, Alhaji Umar Bio Salihu, said that a letter was written before his village was attacked. He promptly forwarded the letter to the higher authority. Yet, what happened still happened.
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“Also, as testified by various concerned individuals and groups, identities of bandits and some of their sponsors are not hidden. But those who were supposed to act in this respect have failed woefully. Rather than act in the interest of the people, they collude with the people’s enemies.”
Ajayi cited some states in the North, especially Katsina, which entered into ‘Peace Pact’ with bandits, noting that several reports have it that bandits still struck in many places despite signing Peace Agreements with governments and communities. Just as some prominent individuals decided to be ‘middlemen’ between bandits and governments.
“It is inconceivable that those with whom agreements are being signed could not be identified. Thus, rather than dealing with them in line with the provision of the law, they are being pampered.
“Besides, those who were saddled with the responsibility of safeguarding the interest of the people chose to sabotage the people. Instances cited in this respect included the alleged sharing of money meant to procure arms for security agencies under former National Security Adviser, Col. Dasuki (rtd) and the diversion of money meant for the same purpose by the former Accountant- General of the Federation, Mr. Chukwunyere Anamekwe Nwabuoku, who is presently facing trial in a Federal High Court in Abuja.
“He is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). He was reported to have refunded some money and property as an admission of the allegation.
Ajayi emphasised that “the problem therefore is not lack of information, but the will to use the information in the interest of the people.
He advised that State Police should take off immediately while communities should also be enabled to have local security arrangements.
“It is high time governors in Yorubaland go beyond sermonisation and swing into decisive actions that will really make the region a very secure place,” Afenifere spokesman counselled.
