Amotekun lacks arms to fight bandits in Ondo

 

The Ondo State Security Network, also known as Amotekun, says it needs automatic weapons to fight armed criminals in the state effectively.

The agency had recently been grappling with recurring kidnapping cases involving suspected cattle herders armed with guns such as AK47s.

Amotekun commander Adetunji Adeleye, who was a guest at the Secretariat of the Ondo State Correspondent Chapel on Tuesday, said the major challenge confronting the agency is inadequate equipment to match what criminals are carrying.

He, however, said the agency was undeterred by its handicap.

“Amotekun, very adequately, works with other security agencies in the state. The synergy encompasses operational, strategy, and intelligence gathering at the grassroots level, and I must tell you that it has been yielding great results,” Mr Adeleye said.

Some of the challenges we face as a result of inadequate equipment have cost us the very precious lives of some of our men. But we remain determined as we pledged to sacrifice.”

Mr Adeleye said Amotekun had arrested about 7,000 suspected criminals across the state within the last three and half years of its creation.

The corps commander said out of those arrested, about 1,500 were charged to court with judgement secured against many accused persons.

According to him, due to the agency’s intervention, m farmers/herders clashes have reduced by over 95 per cent in the last two years.

Mr Adeleye, who is the Special Adviser (Security Matters) to the state governor,
and Chairman of the Council of Amotekun Commanders in the South-west said the corps had recorded tremendous success in fighting crime in the region.

Amotekun was founded on 9 January 2020 in Ibadan, Oyo State, as a regional security outfit by the governors of the Southwest states.

“The support of sister security agencies, particularly the DSS, has been assisting us in getting the requisite geo-location of kidnap victims and suspects,” he said.

“All these, coupled with our local intelligence and unconventional methods, have assisted us in arresting, to date, well over 7,000 suspected criminals, out of which 1,500 of them have been charged to court.

“We have even secured the judgement of very many of them. At a time when the turnout of criminals was becoming unmanageable for the judiciary, the government of Oluwarotimi Akeredolu graciously approved the building of two courts to assist the judiciary in the prompt dispensation of justice.”

Mr Adeleye said the birth of the Amotekun Corps has helped the state to be adjudged one of the most peaceful in the country.

He, however, said despite skirmishes at some of its border communities, Ondo State has remained peaceful as action had been taken in the affected communities.

Mr Adeleye said four officers were summarily dismissed for running foul of the laws and rules guiding the operation of the corps, while several others were sent to detention centres to ensure that they conform with the norms and standard operational practice of the organisation.

He said: “By the time we took off, within two weeks, we received over 5,000 petitions of herders/farmers clashes. It was becoming impossible for farmers to go to their farms completely for fear of herders molesting, kidnapping, maiming or killing them. It was becoming very difficult for civil servants to board a taxi across the town without being kidnapped, molested or robbed in daylight. The worse was climbing on Okada.

“The first area of attack by Amotekun was the herders/farmers clashes. We started with mass public enlightenment that farmers have the right to plant and herders the right to rear their cows, but they don’t have the right to infringe on the business of the other one, and after this, we called the meeting of the Miyetti Allah group in the state and South West, and we explained the position of the corps, giving a deadline after which we announced that we would commence enforcement.

“To the glory of God, our first operation, we found out that even within Alagbaka GRA, where the government house and office are located, over 500 cows were house the promises that were forcefully taken over from a widow and all efforts in the last five years at that time for the widow to recover met with stiff opposition from the herdsmen with a final warning that if she dares comes there again, they will bury her alive in the premises.

“So, we followed suit, and we were able to arrest over 200 of the cows; the owner and the owners of the farmlands that were destroyed around the place came for compensation because we made sure that in compliance with the position of the state government, they paid for whatever they destroyed.

In the next few days, we were able to arrest a thousand cows from Owena Dam around Igbara-oke. We also made sure that upon negotiation between the farmers/herders, they paid for whatever they destroyed before releasing their cows to them.”

The corps commander pointed out that implementing the anti-open grazing law in the state was also an added advantage for the agency.

Governor Akeredolu had earlier called on the Federal Government to allow state security outfits to bear automatic weapons.

The stance had pitted him against the President Buhari administration, with some officials exchanging words with the governor on the issue. (Premium Times)

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