As part of the measures to tackle insecurity, the Ondo State Government has a set up a security joint task force.
This is part of the overall mechanisms put in place to reduce the recent spates of kidnapping in the state.
The kidnappers in the past few weeks have been having a field day in Ondo State as they unleash terror on many communities, especially in Akure North Local Government Area of the State where five farmers were murdered in cold blood.
Consequently, residents of this area took to the streets to register their grievances against what they described as government’s inertia in arresting the situation.
Meanwhile, a few days before that incident, some suspected herdsmen attacked four communities of Ademekun, Aba Sunday, Aba Pastor and Aba Alajido, killing 14 farmers in the communities all in the same Akure North LG.
Giving a highlight of the situation to newsmen in Akure, the Ondo State Commander of the Amotekun Corps, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye, revealed that the joint task force comprises all security agencies in the state.
He said, “We want to reassure the residents of this state that they can continue their normal farming activities as the government has established a joint task force to stabilise the very remote areas of Akure North, where these nefarious activities take place. The government is also making efforts to open up the roads in the area such that quick response can occur in case of emergency.”
On the communities being attacked recently, Adeleye said, “We are all aware of the criminal activities that happened in the deep forest of Akure North Local Government Area of the state. The government had drafted a joint patrol team comprising the army, the police, the NSCDC and Amotekun men, and we have been able to restore normalcy to the Ago Oyinbo, Ago Dada, Ago Ademekun, Ago Sunday and its environs.
“Now normalcy has been restored in the area and the government has directed that Amotekun posts be put in place as a control point in those remote areas to prevent a situation where after the exit of the present team these marauders can come back. So, these are part of the measure of the government in ensuring peace and stability, not only in Akure North but generally in the state,” the commander stated.
The Amotekun commander also disclosed that the bombardment of the forests by officers of the corps has yielded results as no fewer than 32 suspected kidnappers have now been arrested.
According to him, the suspects were apprehended at four local governments of Akure South, Akure North, Ose and Akoko North-East Local Governments, through the efforts of the Amotekun Rangers in collaboration with sister security agencies.
“In recent times, we have an upsurge of criminal activities, kidnapping inclusive in Ondo State. The officers and men of the Ondo State security network mobilised additional support from the neighbouring local government and entered into the forest reserves and areas noted for these nefarious activities. In the last one week, we were able to arrest 32 suspects for kidnapping that are undergoing different stages of interrogation. We have a total of 58 men that we are parading today.
“Part of these 32 suspected kidnappers are people arrested around Akure North, Akure South, Ose and Akoko North-East Local Governments in the last one week. They were smoked out of the forests. All of them were smoked out of the forest reserve areas of the state and around the places where these unfortunate situations are happening.
“As a result of the recent killings in the Akure North LG axis, officers and men from all security agencies, including Amotekun, have been parading the area and as I said, normalcy has been restored in those areas. We are talking about the Ago Dada, Ago Oyinbo, Ago Ademekun and its environment,” he explained.
