Amotekun Arrests 20 Kidnappers, Rescues Victim in Ondo Forests
The Ondo State Command of the South-West Security Network, popularly known as Amotekun Corps, has announced the arrest of 20 men suspected of kidnapping in the state.
The corps also paraded nine other suspects for various criminal offenses, such as robbery, cultism, and illegal possession of firearms.
The Amotekun Corps Commander, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye, said that the kidnappers were apprehended in some of the forests in the state, after a rigorous operation that involved crossing rivers and engaging in gun battles. He said that the kidnappers had been terrorizing the residents of the state, especially farmers and travellers.
He said: “The resurgence of kidnapping within the state made us go deep into forests to fish out these kidnappers. We have a total number of 29 criminals, and about 20 of them are suspected kidnappers.
“As a matter of fact, we had to cross the river before we were able to arrest them, and we were equally attacked by the majority of them.
“We also found out that these criminals live in our forests along Ala-Dada, Jugbere, up to Ijagba ( in Owo Local Government ) and we were able to comb the forests. Some of these criminals engage in feeding victims, charging their phones, and a lot of other things that they do.”
One of the victims who was rescued by the Amotekun Corps was Regina Odey, a 23-year-old student who was kidnapped on her farm along with her sisters. She said that she spent seven days in captivity and was released after her family paid N350,000 as ransom. She narrated her ordeal in the hands of the kidnappers, who beat her with cassava sticks and threatened to kill her.
She said: “On that fateful day, we were at the farm and suddenly we saw these three kidnappers coming towards where we are, I now told my sisters that these Fulani people are coming to our side and that I’m going to run, but they ( my sisters) said that I should not go anywhere that they are not going to do anything to us.
“When they got to us, they asked us to kneel down and we knelt down. At that moment we started begging them. Two of them were with guns while the third person was with cutlass.
“They later asked me to stand up and told me that I should be following them. They took a cassava stick and started beating me as we were going. I spent seven days with them, they asked for my dad’s number but I told them that I did not know it off-hand because I have already lost my memory.
“I later told them I did not have parents again, that they had died, and that I just came to the village to help my sisters so that I will get money to take care of myself when I get back to school.
“But they said it was a lie, that they knew everything about my family and I later gave them my number because I was not with my phone on that day.
“Immediately I gave them my number, they started calling the line. One of my sisters that came from Akure to our village picked up the call and they informed her that they have kidnapped me.”
The Amotekun Corps Commander said that the corps will continue to work with other security agencies to ensure the safety and security of the people of Ondo State. He also urged the public to cooperate with the corps by providing useful information and reporting any suspicious activities or persons in their areas.
He said: “We are working hand-in-hand with other security agencies in order to make sure that our people are safe and secure within their environment. We also want to appeal to our people to please give us information because without information we cannot do anything.”
This is a major breakthrough for the Amotekun Corps, which has been working to reduce the incidence of kidnapping in the state. The arrests send a strong message to criminals that they will not be tolerated in Ondo State.
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