The Ondo State Security Network, codenamed Amotekun, has arrested one of the armourers of kidnappers and suspected kidnappers who have been terrorising different parts of the state.
The Commander of the security outfit, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye, who disclosed this on Friday, said the men of the command arrested 51 suspected criminals in the state forests for various offences.
Parading the suspects at the headquarters of the Command, Adeleye said 37 suspected criminals were arrested for breaking the law and order, six major kidnap suspects, and one case of abuse and rape. Despite the arrests, Adeleye said there had been a reduction in crime and criminality in the state.
The Corp Commander said as a result of the activities of the Amotekun Rangers in the forest, the command has been able to dismantle a kidnapping syndicate terrorising the state.
Adeleye said one of the armourers of the kidnappers has been arrested. He said the suspected armourer confessed to having participated in five major kidnap operations within the state.
Giving details of the arrests, Adeleye said, “We have a 21-year-old Lugag, a 40-year-old Andrew, a 30-year-old Eze Chinedu, and Ime, Yahaya, and their local collaborator, Seun.
“They are all suspected kidnappers. On human trafficking, we have one Ibrahim, 42, and we have one Agu Joseph, who is a jailbird that actually escaped from the Okitipupa custodian centre to commit another crime, where Amotekun operatives picked him up.
“On attempted robbery, we have Kehinde, 30 years old, Folarin, 36, and their collaborators, Aliu and Lukman, 28 and 25 years, respectively. As part of that robbery gang, we also have Mada, 25 years old.
“On the rape victim, we have Amos Kingsley, 29, and on the anti-open grazing violation in Akure North and Pelebe, Akure area, we were able to arrest Liman and Abubaka.
“On an anti-open grazing violation, we arrested Isa, 50. We have one Sadiq, 27, who was granted administrative bail in the court where the prosecution was supposed to have been going on.
“He ran away out of the state. We were able to set up trackers to bring him back. And we have one Sani, Joshua, and Pelumi, who specialise in breaking into people’s houses.
“Those that pretend to be hawkers and picking metals, but they are actually collaborators and information gathering agents of kidnappers and robbers, we have a David Abdul, 22, Abdullai, 27, Sani, 22 years old, Ahmed, 26, Emma, 20, Dayo, the local collaborator, 27, Marcello Buhari, 25, all in the business of pretending to be picking metals on dump sites when they are actually breaking, stealing generators, stealing equipment, breaking into people’s houses.
“These 51 suspects have gone through various stages of interrogation, and about 35 of them will be going to the court of competent jurisdiction today.”
Adeleye said the security outfit, in conjunction with other law enforcement agencies, would make the state uncomfortable for criminals, especially those who kidnap for ransom.
