Operatives of the Ondo State Security Network Agency (Amotekun Corps) have apprehended some suspected bandits and their wives allegedly fleeing ongoing military operations against insurgency in the northern part of the country.
The suspects, were among the 97 other suspected criminals, arrested for various offense of kidnapping, unlawful entering of state forests, anti-open grazing, armed robbery and theft among several others in different parts of the state.
Parading the suspects at the weekend in Akure, the Commander of the Amotekun Corps, Adetunji Adeleye, revealed that his men intercepted the group of suspected bandits with women of different ages traveling into the forests reserved with their household items.
Mr Adeleye, who listed the items found with the suspected women as bedding, cooking utensils, mortars and pestles, said the security outfit was concerned about their ‘suspicious movement’ into the state.
He explained that the Amotekun Corps investigation revealed that the women were fleeing the military onslaught in the northeastern part of the nation and were allegedly invited by their husbands and family members who already resides in forest reserves and within communities in Ondo and the South-West.
Adeleye cited a case where a suspect reportedly requested only two labourers, who were women, but later received additional 51 persons and were moving into the forest reserve with their belongings, describing the development as suspicious.
‘I want to bring to the attention of the general public a new trend in criminality that we have observed. It involves women of different ages travelling in vehicles into the interior forests with household utensils, mortars and pestles, bedding, cooking utensils and personal belongings.
‘Upon interrogation, they confirmed they were fleeing security pressure in the North. They also admitted that they were invited by some members of these northern groups to come and destabilise the peace in the southern part of the state, which had previously been very peaceful.
‘ýOne suspect told us he invited only two people to work for him, but those two people brought 51 others. The man who invited them confirmed that he only requested two workers. These individuals subsequently brought 51 more people into the forest, loaded with various goods, to an area they had never been before. This is highly suspicious,’ he said.
He said the Amotekun Corps has begun profiling the women and their children, streasing that the suspects would be relocated to their respective states with the help of the Mayetti Allah and Hausa leadership.
Adeleye also warned community leaders, traditional rulers and residents of the state to stop admitting strangers into their areas amidst security concerns in the country.
The Amotekun Corps Commander also raised the alarm over the fresh Influx of criminal elements from the northern parts of the country into forests and communities in the state, warning that the trend posed security challenges in the South-West.
Adeleye listed other suspects paraded to include individuals arrested in connection with kidnapping, armed robbery, burglary, vehicles hijacking and theft, as well as suspected informants and logistics suppliers to criminal gangs operating in forests across the state.
According to him, security operatives also recovered a vehicle allegedly used during an attack on members of a security team before it was abandoned in a forest.
ý’Some of the suspects were arrested in connection with kidnapping-related cases. Others were arrested for violating the anti-open grazing law of Ondo State. We also have cases of burglary and robbery, while others were apprehended in connection with vehicle hijacking and theft.
‘ýWe were able to break a syndicate that has been operating in Ondo State. The stolen vehicles and some of the principal suspects are here on parade with us. ýWe have individuals who confessed to being informants and suppliers to kidnappers in the forest,’ he said.