Amotekun arrests 46 suspects, recovers ex-Speaker’s stolen phones in Ondo

Operatives of the Amotekun Corps in Ondo State have arrested 46 suspects over various criminal offences, including a couple linked to the burglary of the residence of Jumoke Akindele, former Speaker of the State House of Assembly.

Adetunji Adeleye, the Corps Commander, who disclosed this on Wednesday while parading the suspects at the Command Headquarters in Akure, said the husband and wife were arrested following an intensive investigation into the break-in at the home of former Speaker.

According to him, the operation also led to the arrest of a transporter allegedly used to convey the stolen mobile phones from Okitipupa to Lagos.

Adeleye confirmed that all the phones stolen during the incident had been recovered and were displayed before journalists alongside the suspects.

He added that among those paraded were individuals suspected of involvement in kidnapping and armed robbery.

The Amotekun boss said, “the prevailing situations made it imperative for the Corps to sustain what is supposed to be Sallah patrols. So, up till now, we have the Border Control Patrol, the Amotekun Rangers, the Operations Department, the Commander Squads, and all operational units of the Corps working in the 18 Local Governments in continuation of what was supposed to be a Sallah patrol.

“The implication is that there is no hiding place for criminals in those states. The trend has been that most of the time when these criminal activities take place, at the end of the day they are arrested, tried, and the long arm of the law usually catches up with them that is why, again, we advise that criminals should leave Ondo State.

“I also want to place on record that my Principal, His Excellency, Honourable Dr. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, in his usual compassionate disposition to security-related issues, have graciously approved that all Okada that were impounded for defaulting this year in the ban on Okada from 7pm to 5am in the morning, be granted leave to fulfil the conditions of the Corps precedence to the release of their Okada within the next 15 days. The implication of this is that if you default and your Okada was impounded, you bring relevant papers and you fulfil the necessary conditions, then your Okada will be released.

“Those with breaches of security involving robbery, kidnapping, are separate cases, not inclusive in the gracious disposition of Mr. Governor. Again today, as we are talking now, we have some suspects already in courts, various courts, the magistrate courts, the high courts, some in Oka-Akoko, some in Owo and some in Akure.

“So, we have ongoing cases and fresh ones, ongoing as of today for the parade of this morning, we equally have a group of burglars and armed robbers that specialises in breaking into houses in the Ilaje and Okitipupa local government area of the states. A couple of days ago, they busted into the house of one of our dignitaries and cut away a lot of things. But within 24 hours, we were able to arrest the kingpin. We still have two at large, but we have two of them on the parade today and we were able to recover expensive phones and other items.

“On the parade today, we equally have a group of kidnappers, which incidentally too, the victims are here and they’ve identified them to be those that kidnapped them in Owo local government. They confronted our men, but we were able to overpower them and we brought them here today. They are equally on the parade. We have a total of 46 suspects ready to go to court on the parade today.

“Out of these 46, 13 are suspected kidnappers, two were arrested under the anti-open-grazing law, while 31 were arrested across different types of criminal activities, which include cultism, illegal possession of firearms, breach of peace, stealing of iron, and other domestic criminal activities. On kidnapping, the suspects arrested in the government reserve area of Owo is one Muhammad 30, in Ilu-abo Akure North, Iziji and Genesis Oda Road, Ilu-Abo, Etioro Supare-Akoko and also in the forest reserve of Owo we arrested Usman Musa, Usman 25, Musa 20, Bakare 28, Muhammad 23, Hosseini 35, David 26.

“On the kidnap that took place in Emure/Owo axis, we were able to arrest them and we have two brothers, Usman and Usman, and one Zachariah. As an informant, we have a Seidu that was arrested while preparing to buy food and other things for the kidnappers. We have a 20-year-old Ayuba, and one Umaru, arrested on anti-open-grazing law from Owo local government. In Ilale community in Owo, a 31-year-old Ayuba was arrested with attempted murder. On cultism, we have Agboola, Olalekan, Ebidemi, Adeyemi, Adewale, Ayadi, Fagbemi, Adebule, charged with illegal possession of firearms and cultisms, and attempt to murder.

“We equally have one Emmanuel and Augustine on cult-related charges from Owo. From Odigbo waterworks, Owo, Ipese-Akoko, Irese, we arrested Ogunfure, Akinduro, Tukuru, Mike, Omokara, for offences as stated against their names earlier on. Across board, we are happy to say that the state is very, very safe, and the security stability in conjunction with all the security agencies in the state is robust to the extent that the forest combing, the clearance operation, and joint patrols among security agencies goes on”.