Men of the Ondo State Security Network codename Amotekun have arrested 149 suspected criminals from different hideouts including trucks in different parts of the State.
The Commander of the Security Network, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye said the suspects were inside trucks when they were arrested from three local government areas of the state.
Adeleye expressed fear about the heavy influx of strange people within the forest reserve areas and the State territory.
According to him, the majority of those people claimed they were coming into the state as hunters and were found in areas where criminal activities were usually carried out.
His words “They were arrested around the black spots where we have robbery operations and kidnapping in the local governments where they were nabbed.
“They surprisingly and carefully concealed and kept their weapons, bags of Indian hemp, and cutlasses under their vehicles and they claimed that they were coming from the various parts of the country.”
Adeleye said the arrested 149 suspects have been profiled, while some of them are still being questioned.
His words “The pertinent question we are asking them, is that is “why are they hiding their guns”? If they are genuine hunters, why not come out openly, one begins to wonder why they would come from the extreme parts of the country to hunt in a village, in a forest they have never been to before in Ondo state.
“No doubt, as Nigerians, they have the right to go anywhere in the country, but they do not have the right to go with weapons. As hunters, we had expected that they would have made consultations to find out their limitations.
“In Ondo State Forestry reserves, the government is very clear, that if you are a hunter and want to go into the forest, you have to register, so that the government, the kings, and the hunters will know that you are there.
“We want to appeal to commuters, that if you have any reason to do your legitimate business in Ondo State, please consult the relevant agencies and to our Baales, the Kabiyes, and the good people of the State, we can no longer tolerate this kind of people without mission, entering our forest areas.
“We have very strong reasons to believe that they are the people that turn at night to kidnappers, and armed robbers and commit various crimes, especially in the bad portions of the roads and in the forest reserves of the State.
” When we finish the investigation, we will send them to relevant government agencies for detailed profiling and those that would be sent back to their states will be sent back, but those we find guilty of criminal intentions will be tried in the court of competent jurisdiction, Akogun Adeleye stated.
It would be recalled, that the Ondo State Governor, Hon Lucky Aiyedatiwa had last week, directed, that even the last criminal in the state must be smoked out and nabbed.
The Governor also directed that buses commuting pupils in the state must be protected and placed on serious surveillance to ascertain that they are taken to their schools and back to their destinations without any hitches.
