Ondo State Security Network Agency, codenamed Amotekun Corps, has revealed it has apprehended no fewer than 4,000 suspected criminals in five months across the 18 local government areas of the state The Trumpet gathered.
The agency disclosed that the suspects, who were arrested between January and May this year, were involved in various criminal actions, varying from kidnapping, armed robbery, human trafficking, and illegal possession of firearms, among others.
The state commander of the corps, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye, announced this in a chat with journalists in Akure, the state capital. Adeleye, who doubled as the Special Adviser to Governor Rotimi Akeredolu on Security Matters, asserted that the corps was committed to making the state crime-free and would not concede on its Operation Clean-Up efforts to eliminate crime in the state, noting that the crime rate in the state had dropped by more than 70 per cent.
“Comparatively, in the last five months of last year and the first five months of this year, we have had a very sharp decrease in the number of suspects arrested. Last year, on maintenance of law and order in the line of violators of open grazing law alone, we arrested close to 4,000 but this year, we have not arrested up to 1,000.
“Also, comparatively, virtually all forms of criminal activities are on the decline in the state. Unlike before when kidnapping was an everyday issue. It is no longer as rampant as it was within the metropolis and even at the border towns, it is now becoming a thing of the past.”
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Adeleye said the processes are part of the landmarks and achievements of Amotekun. He said: “You will recall that we commenced the year on a very good note, in the sense that the December period is usually characterised by various criminal activities but last December was eventfully peaceful until we had the first major carnage in the Ose Local Government Area.”
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Security Matters further applauded the men of the Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Department of State Services and the Nigerian Army for their alliance in making the arrests.
“On the Clean-Up Operation, the military in Kogi partnered with the 32 Artillery Brigade in Akure and men of Amotekun Corps as well as the local hunters of all the villages around the border towns and to a very large extent, we were able to drive these criminals away. We observed that these criminals come to Ondo State, strike and move back to Kogi. The same thing also happens around Ose Local Government where they strike and move to Edo State through the river.
“These criminals always take advantage of the fact that there are no Amotekun in Kogi and Edo, but that has since been stopped now as the security agencies in these two neighbouring states are collaborating with us. The last operation we did, a couple of days ago, we were able to engage these criminals.”
