Six gang members suspected of drugging, hypnotising, and robbing across the state of Ondo have been arrested by the Ondo State Security Network Agency (Amotekun).
Along with other suspects being held for other offences, the suspects were put on display in Akure, the location of the agency’s headquarters, on Friday.
Adetunji Adeleye, commander of the Amotekun Corps, said that additional individuals were apprehended for crimes, including armed robbery, abduction, unlawful possession of firearms, fraud, theft, and more.
According to Mr Adeleye, before breaking into homes to plunder and rape, the burglars would typically spray a chemical substance in the rooms to induce the residents to sleep off.
He claimed, “We have a group of burglars that specialised in drugging unsuspecting residents of various houses, so they will sleep off, break the burglary, enter their houses, dispose them of their valuables while some of them are raped.”
“And because of the high dose of drugs they injected into their system, some don’t even wake up, so we’ve been able to break that syndicate too.
“They don’t normally have direct access to the victims. They jump across their fences, pump a syringe of these chemicals into their rooms, wait for about 30 to 40 minutes, and every living thing inside the room sleeps off. So, whatever they do, you don’t know again.”
Additionally, he stated that the Corps was still on the trail of the kidnappers of Clement Olukotun, the Oloso of Oso, who is 66 years old, in Ajowa- Akoko, Akoko North-West Local Government Area of the state.
Mr Adeleye reported that the Corps rescued several victims and made some arrests during the newly initiated 24-hour inter-border surveillance and patrol over the southwest area of the country. This operation was codenamed “Operation Gba’le – Gba’ko” (sweeping home and forest).
“Most of these arrests, after due diligence, will be prosecuted, and the law will take its course on them. So, that is why we are here to show part of the dividends of operation gba’le-gba’ko of the Ondo State Security Network Agency; we have 32 suspects here awaiting trial,” he said.
“You will find out that most of these criminal activities occur in places where there are no Amotekun; a majority of the criminal activities between Ondo/Osun, Ondo/Oyo and Ondo/Ogun are very easy for us since we work together.
“That is why they take solace in the boundary of Edo and Kogi. But of late, I give it to the conventional Security agencies both in Ondo, Edo and Kogi; we’ve been working together and are seeing positive results.”
Mr Adeleye stated that the Corps also arrested a gang that operated as a hypnotist, robber, and kidnapper for ransom.
He said, “We have reports that innocent persons performing their daily businesses are seized, kidnapped and robbed, especially around Oja Oba, First Bank, Post Office, and Ilesha Garage locations. So we laid siege, and we were able to apprehend the group.”
Since its creation, the Corps has acknowledged that a lack of automatic weapons limits its activities.
Although Governor Rotimi Akeredolu has often requested that the federal government let the Corps bear arms, the federal government has consistently rejected his requests.