The Ondo State Security Network Agency, also known as Amotekun Corps has detained 53 suspects, including 21 illegal foreign nationals who were allegedly living in two apartments in Owo, the state’s headquarters for the Owo Local Government Area.
The suspects were among those paraded by the corps on Monday at its headquarters in Akure for suspected involvement in a number of criminal activities, including cultism, abduction, self-kidnapping, murder, attempted murder, burglary, and theft.
Akogun Adetunji Adeleye, the corps’ state commander, paraded the suspects and stated that the 21 foreigners were taken into custody after receiving information from the state’s Fulani population.
According to Adeleye, the suspects claimed to have come to Nigeria from nearby West African nations to work at low-paying professions and fix phones, but they were unable to provide documentation that would have allowed them to remain.
He claimed that in recent months, the command had noticed an increase of foreigners traveling through the state’s cities and woodlands in various disguises.
“I want to draw the public’s attention to the embarrassing way that foreigners traverse the state’s cities and forests under various guises,” the commander stated.
“Over the past three months, we have consistently seen foreigners staying in hotels that are not congruent with their reasons for entering the country, purporting to be phone repairers or sellers.
“We’ve referred them for examination to the appropriate sister security authorities.
Once more, 21 of them have rented just two apartments in Owo under the pretense of traveling from other West African nations to perform little tasks and phone repairs, with the help and coordination of locals.
“We discovered that they don’t even have ECOWAS documents to ensure their stay.”
According to Adeleye, the apartment building’s proprietors might also come under investigation because they allegedly cared more about collecting rent than getting to know their tenants’ identities and activities.
He cautioned that undocumented foreign nationals who have been abandoned by their sponsors may be recruited into illegal activities.
He stated, “In addition to being suspected illegal immigrants, most of the time when their sponsors desert them, they become ready tools as criminals and accomplices.”
However, the commander stated that the 21 foreign nationals were being turned over to the relevant government organization for additional examination and suitable action.
Adeleye added that the command had also discovered four suspects in a self-kidnapping gang who allegedly utilized social media to set off false alarms and demand money.
According to him, one of the suspects was a man who allegedly informed the Amotekun Corps that his siblings had been abducted but was subsequently discovered to be an accomplice.
He claims that after apprehending two suspects, investigators located the alleged kidnapping victim at his residence.
Today, we have four individuals who use social media to set up false alarms and engage in self-kidnapping. The first two were apprehended when we moved in.
“After a thorough investigation, we discovered that the man who hurried to the Amotekun Corps office to report the kidnapping of his siblings was actually an accomplice. And after careful examination, he guided us to his house, where we discovered the man they thought had been abducted,” he stated.
Adeleye further revealed that seven additional people were detained on suspicion of kidnapping after working with Fulani community members.
He claimed that during the operation, two abducted youngsters were freed and a military uniform was found on one of the accused kidnappers.
He claims that one of the victims was saved alive and transported for medical care despite suffering machete wounds to his head and body during the assault.
“With the Fulani community’s cooperation, we were able to jointly carry out an operation where a military uniform was recovered from one of the kidnappers and we successfully retrieved the two kidnaped boys, though they were wounded,” he stated.
They macheted every part of one of them, including his head and torso, in an attempt to murder him. He is presently stable after we rescued him.
Adeleye praised Fulani community members for their collaboration in locating and capturing suspected criminal groups.
Additionally, he expressed gratitude to Lucky Aiyedatiwa, the governor of Ondo State, for helping the corps fight crime throughout the state.
