Six alleged members of a gang of thieves infamous for drugging, hypnotizing, and robbing in the state have been apprehended by the Ondo State Security Network Agency, better known as Amotekun.
The accused were paraded alongside other suspects detained for unrelated offenses on Friday at the agency’s Akure headquarters.
Adetunji Adeleye, the commander of the Amotekun Corps, reported that other individuals had been apprehended for armed robbery, kidnapping, unlawful possession of firearms, fraud, and theft among other offenses.
Before breaking into homes to rob and rape residents, the burglary gang, according to Mr. Adeleye, typically sprayed chemical material in the rooms to convince the occupants to fall asleep.
“We have a crew of burglars who specialize in drugging unwary residents of different houses so they will sleep off, break the burglary, enter their homes, dispose of their goods while some of them are raped,” he claimed.
We’ve also been able to break up that syndicate because of the large dose of medications they injected into some of the victims’ systems, which caused some of them not to even wake up.
They typically don’t have access to the victims directly. They jump over their fences, use a syringe to inject poisons into their rooms, and then wait for around 30 to 40 minutes while everything within the room falls asleep. Therefore, you are in the dark about everything they do.
He added that the corps was still looking for the kidnappers of Clement Olukotun, the Oloso of Oso, a 66-year-old monarch who was taken in Ajowa-Akoko, the state’s Akoko North-West Local Government Area.
Speaking about the newly started “Operation Gba’le – Gba’ko” (sweeping home and forest) (24-hour inter-border surveillance and patrol in the southwest portion of the country), Mr. Adeleye stated the corps rescued several victims and made some arrests.
After careful investigation, the majority of those detained will face legal action, and the law will take its course. We have 32 suspects here awaiting trial, so that is why we are here to demonstrate some of the benefits of operation gba’le-gba’ko of the Ondo State Security Network Agency, he added.
“You’ll discover that the bulk of these illegal actions occur in areas without Amotekun; the majority of the criminal activity between Ondo/Osun, Ondo/Oyo, and Ondo/Ogun is very simple for us since we cooperate.
“As a result, they find comfort in the line separating Edo and Kogi. But recently, I have to give credit to the traditional security organizations in the states of Ondo, Edo, and Kogi since we have been cooperating and getting good results.
According to Mr. Adeleye, the corps also busted a gang that was known for hypnotizing victims and engaging in robberies and kidnappings for ransom.
“We lay siege and we were able to catch the bunch,” he continued. “We got reports that innocent persons going about their regular business were being apprehended, kidnapped, and robbed, notably near Oja Oba, First Bank, Post Office, and Ilesha Garage locations.
Since its creation, the Corps has highlighted the absence of automatic weapons as one of its operational shortcomings.
The federal government has been rebuffed Governor Rotimi Akeredolu’s requests to permit the corps to carry guns because they claim that would be against the law.
