Ondo Amotekun parades 29 suspected criminals

DAMISI OJO, Akure

The Ondo State Security Network Agency code named Amotekun, has arrested 29 suspected criminals in the state.

According to the commander of the corps, Adetunji Adeleye, while parading the suspects, 20 of the suspects were involved in kidnapping.

One of the kidnappers’ victims is a 23-year-old young lady, Odey Regina Olayemi, who was seized recently and released seven days later by her abductors.

Olayemi narrated her ordeal while in the abductors’ captivity.

She was kidnapped at their farm located at Ago-Oyinbo village in Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo state by four armed kidnappers.

The victim disclosed that the sum of N350,000 was paid for her ransom, while she spent seven days in the kidnappers’ den.

Speaking with reporters on Monday at the Amotekun Corps headquarters in Akure, Olayemi said: “My mum and dad were in the town, I now went to the village to go and help my sisters before our resumption in order to get money to take to school.

“On that fateful day, we were at the farm and suddenly we saw these three kidnappers coming towards where we are; I now told my sisters that these Fulani people are coming to our side that I’m going to run, but they said that I should not go anywhere that they are not going to do anything to us.

“When they got to us, they asked us to kneel down and we knelt down. At that moment, we started begging them. Two of them were with guns while the third person was with cutlass. They later asked me to stand up and told me that I should be following them. They took cassava stick and started beating me as we were going.

“I spent seven days with them. They asked for my dad’s number but I told them that I did not know it off-hand because I have already lost my memory. I later told them I did not have parents again, that they have died, that I just came to the village to help my sisters so that I will get money to take care of myself when I get back to school.

“But they said it was a lie, that they knew everything about my family and I later gave them my number because I was not with my phone on that day. Immediately I gave them my number, they started calling the phone but nobody picked it. Later, one of my sisters that came from Akure to our village picked the call and they informed her that they have kidnapped me.

“It was that my sister who now went to the Amotekun office to report before Amotekun swung into action to rescued me and I thank God that they rescued me.”

The Amotekun Corps Commander, Adetunji Adeleye, who also spoke on how the Corps rescued the young lady, said about 29 people had been arrested for alleged involvement in various criminal activities in the state in recent times.

Adeleye said: “We were about to pick up the suspected criminals, especially the kidnappers and we are also about to bring the victims who have gone through terrible times in their hands.

“The resurgence of kidnapping within the state made us to go deep into forests to fish out these kidnappers. We have a total number of 29 criminals, and about 20 of them are suspected kidnappers. We also invited all those that came to complain that they were kidnapped in the last three to four months in the state and they were able to identify majority of them.

“As a matter of fact, we have to cross the river before we were able to arrest them, and we were equally attacked by majority of them. We also found out that these criminals live in our forests along Ala-Dada, Jugbere, up to Ijagba and we were able to comb the forests.

“Some of these criminals engage in feedings victims, charging their phones, and a lot of other things that they do.

“This is to send a strong signal that even crossing the water will not deter Amotekun from fishing these criminals out of Ondo State. The only solution is for all these criminals and kidnappers to pack and leave Ondo state.

“The signal we are sending to the public is we will continue to rely on your cooperation and we will also strive to ensure that Ondo State remains very safe; there is no cause for alarm.”

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