Operatives of the Ondo State Security Network Agency, popularly known as Amotekun Corps, have arrested 98 suspected criminals, including individuals allegedly posing as mentally unstable persons to aid kidnapping and robbery activities across the state.
The Commander of the Corps, Adetunji Adeleye, disclosed this while parading the suspects at the agency’s headquarters in Akure.
Adeleye said the arrests were made during a series of coordinated security operations targeting kidnappers, robbers, drug traffickers and other criminal elements operating in different parts of the state.
According to him, 60 of the suspects are currently being prosecuted in various courts, while 38 cases were settled through the Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism.
He added that 13 other suspects were still undergoing investigation and interrogation ahead of possible prosecution.
The Amotekun boss further revealed that no fewer than 10 suspects were apprehended at various kidnapping scenes while allegedly attempting to abduct victims.
Adeleye disclosed that the corps uncovered a new strategy allegedly being adopted by criminal gangs, where some suspects disguise themselves as lunatics to avoid attracting public suspicion while carrying out illegal activities.
He explained that the fake mad men were allegedly involved in intelligence gathering for kidnappers, drug peddling, robbery and other criminal operations.
“Our intelligence and undercover officers monitored and tracked them to locations where they charged their phones, changed clothes and coordinated their operations before they were eventually arrested,” he said.
The commander also recounted how Amotekun operatives rescued a kidnapped couple in the Iluabo community without paying ransom to the abductors.
According to him, the agency’s rapid response team stormed the forest immediately after receiving distress calls, leading to the rescue of the wife, while a prolonged overnight operation later secured the freedom of her husband.
“We reunited the family without any ransom payment or negotiation,” Adeleye stated.
He attributed the increasing cases of kidnapping and related crimes in the state to the influx of criminal elements fleeing intensified security crackdowns in some northern parts of the country.