Sam Philip
No fewer than 27 Crime Suspects were arrested and paraded by the Ondo State Security Network, codenamed Amotekun Corps, on Monday in Akure, Ondo State capital.
They were arrested different for committing various crimes at different locations in the state.
Among the suspects were four kidnap suspects who were arrested by Amotekun Rangers at border communities of Ondo State with Edo and Kogi states.
The suspects usually kidnapped in Ondo State and took their victims to the neighbouring state’s border communities where they demand ransom front the families of the abductees.
Another suspect paraded was a runaway leader of a syndicate that specialises in snatching, dismantling and selling motorcycles.
His name is Michael Ojo, who escaped when some members of the syndicate were arrested a fortnight ago by the Amotekun Cops.
Michael confessed to the crime, but declared that he could not recall the number of motorcycles he had snatched, dismantled and sold.
The Corps Commander, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye told newsmen at the parade that the suspects who are currently undergoing interrogation would be arraigned soonest.
Running through the list of the crime suspects, Akogun Adeleye said: “We are parading 27 suspected criminals that engaged in various security breaches across Ondo State and across the board, I want to say that despite pockets of security breaches, the security situation of the state is good.
“On the 27 suspects, we have Michael Ojo. You will recall that the last parade we did, we arrested one of the major members of a syndicate that specializes in killing Okada(motorcycle)riders, robbing them, and some of them were at large.
“We went as far as Kogi and Edo states, before we were able to track and arrest Michael Ojo who is here on parade.
“He has confessed to stealing so many motorcycles. He said he lost count of them and dispossessed them, dismantled them, takes them out of the state in pieces.
“He’s been engaging in it, according to him, in the last five years, but in the last one year, he intensified it because there is now pressure on Okada, and it’s now more expensive.
“So, he said that’s why he engages in such trade. He operates in Akure and moves to either Uso or Ogbese. He sells the bikes for N30,000, N50,000.
“We also have those that specialize in breaking shops. A shop that engages in the sales of mattresses was completely emptied by them, and they sold these at cheap amounts to people.
“So, we went after them, retrieved them from those who bought them, because a mattress that would normally go for N100,000 is being sold for N10,000, or N5,000. So, somebody should know that it’s a stolen material. This is a message for people at home.
“Of course, we have about five of them that stole household equipments and foodstuffs, probably because of the economic situation.
“Those we would handle them using the alternative dispute resolution method, the ones we can retrieve, we return them to the owner.
“The Amotekun Rangers that was launched has been yielding a lot of dividends. For instance, it is the activity of the Amotekun Rangers that yielded all these criminals that we picked in the border towns between Edo and Kogi states.
“And because they are domicile right in the forests there, it’s easy for them to go after the criminals. And right now, as we talk, they are in the extreme end of Ose and Akoko, where there are security breaches right now.”