By Folorunso Ojo, Akure
The Commander of the Ondo state security agency network, code name Amotekun, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye has attributed the recent upsurge in criminal activities in Ondo to the heavy presence of security personnel in Ekiti.
He disclosed this at the Amotekun headquarters in Akure yesterday while parading 43 suspected kidnappers arrested in Ondo state in the last one week through their various operations across the 18 Local Government Areas of the State.
Adeleye said that, “The astonishing thing about our parade today is the sudden upsurge in the suspects that we have on kidnapping. About half of the 43 are suspected kidnappers that we have reasonable reasons to question.
“I want to trace this to the heavy presence of security personnel in Ekiti and I want to believe that they are being driven to Ondo State, but we want to tell you that Ondo State can never be a haven for criminals.”
Adeleye further informed that, “We have risen to the challenge and all of them that we have picked in kidnap scenes, during kidnap, and during attempts to kidnap with credible victims around to identify some of them, are the ones we are parading today.”
While saying some of the suspects were arrested with local arms and ammunition, Adeleye said the suspects were not able to justify what they wanted to do with the arms and ammunition found on them.
“This week, we have a sharp decline in the number of housebreaking because we have commenced working, especially on Sundays when people have gone to church and during working hours when people are at work.
“We now walk and trek around the metropolis, which I think is one of the reasons we have a decline in the number of shop breaking.
“Against the backdrop of the sharp decline of herders’ destruction of farmlands, in the northern part of the state, we have an increase in the number of herder-farmer clashes and these are the areas where we have security breaches.
“We still have issues with security challenges on our borders, especially the Kogi/Ondo border, and Edo/Ondo border. We are working on it and collaborating.
“As of yesterday morning (Sunday), 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”, he added.
