Ondo State Security Network Agency Commander Chief Adetunji Adeleye, also known as Amotekun, has announced the expulsion of four of the agency’s officers for breaking its rules and regulations.
This was revealed by Adeleye, who also serves as the governor’s special adviser on security issues, on Wednesday in Akure, the state’s capital.
“We have summarily dismissed four erring officers who ran afoul of the laws and rules guiding the operation of the corps while several others had been sent to detention centres to ensure that they conform to the norms and standard operational practice of the organisation,” he said.
Adeleye noted that in its first two years of operation, the corps detained around 7,000 criminals.
The Amotekun commander also said that 1,500 of the individuals who had been detained had been charged with crimes.
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He said, “Other sister security agencies – the Army, the police, and the Department of State Services- are giving us support. The DSS has often assisted us in getting the requisite geo-location of kidnap victims and suspects.
“All these coupled with our local intellect and unconventional methods had assisted us in arresting to date, well over 7,000 suspected criminals in the last two years, out of which 1,500 of them have been charged to court.
“We have even secured judgment of very many of them. At a time when the turnout of criminals was becoming unmanageable for the judiciary, the administration of Oluwarotimi Akeredolu graciously approved the building of two courts to assist the judiciary in the prompt dispensation of justice.”
He added that over the past two years, the state’s long-running conflict between farmers and herdsmen has decreased by almost 95%.
He added, “By the time we took off, within two weeks, we received over 5,000 petitions on herders/farmers clashes. It was becoming impossible for farmers to go to their farms for fear of herders molesting, kidnapping, maiming, or killing them. It was becoming very difficult for civil servants to board taxis across the town without being kidnapped, molested, or robbed in daylight. The worse was climbing on Okada.
“The first area of attack by Amotekun was the herders/farmers clashes. We started with mass public enlightenment that farmers have the right to plant and herders the right to rear their cows but they don’t have the right to infringe on the business of the other one. After this, we called the meeting of the Miyetti Allah group in the state and in the South West and we explained the position of the corps, giving a deadline after which we announced that we will commence enforcement.”