Ondo Amotekun Parades 53 Suspects, Holds 21 Foreigners In Immigration Crackdown

The Ondo State Security Network Agency, known as Amotekun Corps, has paraded 53 suspects arrested across the state for alleged kidnapping, murder, cultism, rape, cattle rustling and other offences, including 21 foreign nationals held over suspected illegal entry.

The Corps Commander, Chief Adetunji Adeleye, disclosed this while parading the suspects in Akure on Monday. He said the 21 foreigners were arrested in two rented apartments in Owo, where they allegedly posed as phone sellers and repairers after entering from neighbouring West African countries.

“We have 21 of them who rented only two apartments in Owo under the guise of coming in from neighbouring West African countries to do menial jobs and phone repairs, being coordinated and assisted by indigenes,” Adeleye said. He added that many of them had no ECOWAS papers to guarantee their stay, and that all 21 would be handed over to the Nigeria Immigration Service for further investigation and possible prosecution.

The commander warned landlords against renting homes to people whose identities and immigration status they have not verified, saying those who harbour such tenants become accomplices to crime.

The parade also uncovered a staged kidnapping. Adeleye said four people were arrested in Akure North Local Government Area for staging a fake abduction and raising false alarms on social media. According to him, a man who rushed to the Amotekun office to report that his siblings had been kidnapped turned out to be an accomplice, and officers found the supposed victim hiding at home in a hoax designed to create panic and extort money.

Adeleye listed other arrests, including four suspected kidnappers held along the Osi/Igbo-Akoko axis, four suspects detained in Igbese for alleged conspiracy, and three others arrested in the Akoko South-East/Isua axis over alleged kidnapping. He said operatives also disrupted a diesel theft syndicate accused of diverting petroleum products worth several millions of naira from a construction firm and quarry site along Ondo Road, Akure.

Sources: Vanguard, Daily Trust, Daily Post