Ondo, Kogi combined security team align to fish out kidnappers

DAMISI OJO, Akure

Following the last weekend abduction of passengers in an 18 seater-bus around Akunnu/Ayere axis of Ondo/Kogi States respectively, a team of combined security men comprising the Army, Police and Amotekun Corps have been deployed to fish out the Kidnappers that operated in the two neighbouring communities of Ondo and Kogi States.

It would be recalled that the driver of the ill-fated bus was killed by suspected gunmen, while they dragged other victims into the bush.

The Commandant of Ondo State Security Network Agency, Adetunji Adeleye, disclosed this on Monday while parading 43 suspected criminals picked from across 18 Local Government Areas of the State.

According to him, the parade witnessed the sudden upsurge in kidnapping suspects, stressing that about half of the 43 were suspected kidnappers.

Adeleye traced the development to the heavy presence of security personnel in Ekiti State, which he noted, were being driven to Ondo State.

He, however, assured that Ondo State can never be a safe haven for criminals, saying: “We have risen up to the challenge and all of them that we have picked in kidnap scenes, during kidnap, and during attempt to kidnap with credible victims around to identify some of them, are the ones we are now parading”.

“We also have some that we arrested with local arms and ammunition and we’re not able to justify what they wanted to do with the arms and ammunition”.

He enthused that there was a sharp decline in the number of house-breaking because of new strategy of commencing foot walk especially on Sundays when people have gone to church and during working hours when people are at work.

Adeleye disclosed that against the backdrop of the sharp decline of herders’ destruction of farmland, in the northern part of the state, there was an increase in the number of herders farmers’ clashes where they have security breaches.

The Amotekun Commandant, however, noted that they were still having issues with security challenges on the state borders especially the Kogi/Ondo border, Edo/Ondo border, stressing that they are working on it through collaboration.

He said: “As at yesterday, a combined team of security men, specifically army from Kogi and Ondo, Police from Kogi and Ondo, and Amotekun from Ondo, joined hands together to try to fish out the perpetrators of the last kidnap around Akunu/Ayere axis in Kogi/Ondo.

“The actual thing happened in between those two communities and we have been raising alarm that in places that we don’t have the grassroots local security that we can work with, we have been having issues, but we are happy, however, that they joined and collaborated with us and the search still continues”.

He hailed Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa for specifically given a directive to fish out all perpetrators of evil, especially along the border.

According to him, the Governor further ordered all security agencies to ensure that this week and next week, scheduled to honour the late Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, the father of Amotekun in the Southwest, must be witnessed without any security breach.

Adeleye assured that all hands were being put in place to ensure that people come in happily and freely to celebrate the exit of an icon.

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