The Ondo State Security Network Agency, commonly known as Amotekun Corps, has revealed that in the two years since its formation in the state, it has convicted no fewer than 2,000 criminals.
This was revealed by the state commander of the Amotekun, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye, on Wednesday in Akure, the state capital, while discussing the activities of the corps.
Adeleye added that throughout the time period under consideration, the corps had obtained verdicts in more than 1500 cases.
He said, “In the last two years, we have prosecuted over 2,000 criminals and we have secured judgements in favour of the government for not less than 1,500 criminal charges.
“We built Amotekun court to support the judiciary when the turn out of criminals per day outweighed what the judiciary had facilities for. As we speak, there are many who have been prosecuted by Amotekun and the office of the Attorney-General of Ondo State.”
Adeleye intimated that Governor Rotimi Akeredolu had authorised the placement of security stations along the waterline in the Arimogija axis in the state’s Ose Local Government Area and in the Akoko area.
He expressed confidence that the reoccurring security breaches at Ose axis in Ose LG, where there have been numerous kidnapping occurrences in recent decades, would soon be a thing of the past.
The commander stated further, “We still have some challenges in the Ose axis. We have done several clearance operations there, and most of the time, the Amotekun corps is accompanied by the military and other security agencies, but in most cases, these criminal elements only wait for us to go, after which they will cross the river and return.”
He emphasised the importance of the country having state police since it was the solution to the criminal at the grassroots level.
“The solution to the grassroots insecurity in Nigeria is state police, anything short of that, we will only continue to merry-go-round without making any specific progress in the security sector. The fact remains that it will be difficult for a policeman who is from Jigawa State to navigate the terrain here effectively when pursuing criminals but an indigene will be able to do that.
“The fact that we have the grassroots intelligence and network is an advantage that cannot be overlooked. Hence, state police are the panacea to bring to an end criminal activities around us,” Adeleye submitted.
