NB247
The Ondo State Security Network(Amotekun), has expressed worries over an upsurge in the influx of suspected kidnappings into the state.
It said the criminals were moving in droves from Ekiti State where heavy security deployment had been recently made owing the activities of bandits in the state.
The deployed followed a request by the Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, seeking the increase in security personnel in the state.
Ekiti State had suffered fatal attacks of kidnappers resulting the death of two traditional rulers and a school bus driver in the last three weeks.
School children and their teachers were also kidnapped in Ekiti.
However, the Amotekun Corps on Monday in Akure paraded about 20 persons picked up within the reserved forests in the state with indications they were perpetrators of kidnappings.
Another 23 were also paraded for their involvement in other crimes were picked from across the various operations in the 18 Local Government Area of Ondo State.
“The astonishing thing about our parade today is the sudden upsurge in the suspects that we have on kidnapping,” he said.
“We actually have over 50, but those that we have reason to question why they were where they were, and what we found on them around the things of kidnap across the state, are these 20 you are seeing today.”
Mr Adeleye surmised that the influx of the criminal elements into Ondo forest was due to the heavy presence of security personnel in Ekiti State.
” 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 safe haven for criminals,” he said.
“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 parading today.
“We also have some that we arrested with local arms and ammunition and were not able to justify what they wanted to do with the arms and ammunition.”
He said there was a sharp decline in the number of housebreaking in the last one week following the corps foot walking exercise across the towns especially during church hours on Sundays.
We now walk and trek around the metropolis which I think this is one of the reasons we have a decline in the number of shop breaking.
There has been increased incidences of herders and farmers clashes and there had been security breaches.
“We still have issues with security challenges on our borders especially the Kogi/Ondo border, Edo/Ondo border. We are working on it and collaborating,” Mr Adeleye said.
Following the kidnap of travelers at Akunu Akoko, 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.
The police Command in Ondo had earlier said it was deploying special squads to the area to help track the kidnappers.