Chief Adetunji Adeleye, the Commander of Ondo State Security Network Agency popularly known as Amotekun, has confirmed the dismissal of four of its officers who violated its rules and regulations.
Adeleye, who is also the Special Adviser to the Governor on Security Matters, disclosed this while speaking with journalists in Akure, the state capital, on Wednesday.
“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 added that the corps arrested about 7,000 criminals in over two years of its existence.
The commander also disclosed that 1,500 of the arrested criminals had been charged in court.
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 also noted that the hitherto incessant crisis between farmers and herdsmen in the state had reduced by over 95 percent in the last two years.
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.”
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