About 2,000 personnel has been mobilised by the Amotekun Corps to flush out bandits and other criminals operating in forests in the South-West region.
Ogun, Osun states are among the list with targeted 1,000 recruits each, while Oyo recruited 480 men last October as part of efforts to curtail the influx of bandits.
While confirming to newsmen, the state commanders of the corps on Tuesday, stated that more men would soon be recruited to strengthen the South-West Security Network and enhance its operations against bandits, kidnappers and other hoodlums hibernating in South-West forests and reserves.
The targeted operation follows reports of increased kidnapping incidents and other illicit activities by bandits from the Sahel countries and other shady characters.
The National Bureau of Statistics revealed in a survey last December that Nigerians paid a total of N2.23tn as ransom between May 2023 and April 2024.
According to the NBS’s Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey report, an estimated 51.89 million crime incidents were recorded across Nigerian households in the reference period.
The survey indicated that the South-West recorded 6.9m crime incidences during the period.
The North-West region had the highest incidence of crime, with 14.4m cases reported, followed by the North-Central region with 8.8m incidents.
To bolster security in the southwest, the Ondo State Amotekun Corps Commander, Adetunji Adeleye, explained that “Amotekun rangers” had been deployed in the forests to evict the bandits.
Adeleye, who is also the Chairman of the Amotekun Commanders in the southwest, stated, “The Amotekun rangers are in the forest already to flush out the bandits who may want to use our forests as hideouts. Like I do say, no room for bandits in Ondo State.”
He, however, sought more support for the corps in terms of weapons and other security hardware.
‘’What they provided for us is what we are using and that is what we will continue to use. Automatic weapons are on the exclusive list and we will not go near there.
“I would also say we want technology for tracking the location of the criminals and other gadgets to enhance our operational capability and improve intelligence gathering. These are the major areas where we would want to improve upon.”
The Ogun Amotekun Corps Commander, Brig-Gen. Alade Adedigba (retd.), disclosed that his men, numbering over 1,000, had been given the marching orders to move against bandits occupying forests in the state.
Adedigba announced plans to recruit more men, adding that Governor Dapo Abiodun has also given a directive that an additional 1,000 operatives should be recruited to further boost the efficiency of the security outfit.
Speaking with one of our correspondents on Tuesday, the commander said, “Our current strength is over 1,000 and the governor on Saturday has also given a directive that an additional 1,000 officers should be recruited.
“All of these steps are geared towards strengthening the corps and make it much more responsive and combat any form of insecurity.”
The Corps Commander in Osun, Adekunle Omoyele, said the organisation would soon recruit about 1,000 new operatives in addition to the 320 men operating across the state.
Omoyele, who commended the state government for empowering Amotekun to prosecute offenders, said the corps personnel should be allowed to bear sophisticated weapons “since those criminals they would be contending with are also carrying dangerous arms.”
He noted, “We currently have 320 personnel but we plan to recruit 1,000 more. The process will commence soon. Our men will soon go for training and be properly placed to earn salaries, according to the civil service scale.
“We are interested in carrying sophisticated arms. The government should come up with a law that will grant us that opportunity,” Omoyele further said.
Commandant, Oyo Amotekun, Col. Olayinka Olayanju (retd.), in a conversation with The PUNCH, said the state, last October, recruited, trained and deployed 480 forest rangers.
The forest rangers, he said, had been trained and deployed to 25 local government areas of the state with a specific task to address kidnapping, banditry and other illegal activities in forests across the state.
Olayinka said Amotekun, in conjunction with Community-Based Security Oriented Groups, had stepped up border patrols.
Abiodun approves 1,000 new Amotekun recruits to boost Ogun security
He added that the community-based groups, traditional and opinion leaders have been tasked with surveillance and intelligence-gathering tasks, particularly those around settlements and the state’s forests.
“All the security agencies within the state, including the military, have been mobilised by Governor Seyi Makinde to be on red alert to respond appropriately to any threats. More resources mobilised include community-based security-oriented groups for surveillance and intelligence-gathering tasks.
“Furthermore, border patrol activities have been stepped up by my operatives, in conjunction with CBAG, as well as sensitisation efforts by the traditional and opinion leaders, particularly around settlements at the fridges of our forest resources is on the upwards trajectory,” Olayanju said.
The commanders of Amotekun across the southwest states also spoke on the desire to have their personnel equipped with sophisticated arms to deal with banditry and other forms of criminality.
Speaking, Olayanju said the Oyo Amotekun had consistently sought such approval for its personnel, adding that authorities kept responding that such approval would require amendments to the laws of the country.
“The state had been seeking approval for Amotekun operatives to use sophisticated weapons since 2023 and recently a reminder on the issue was activated and tabled before the appropriate superior authority. However, I’m aware it’s a constitutional issue that would require amendments to the LFRN,” Olayanju said.
Commenting on the need for sophisticated arms by the corps, the Ekiti commander of the corps, Brig. Gen. Olu Adewa (retd), noted, “It is part of the Act which established the Amotekun that they can bear light arms. So, from the outset, the corps has always operated that way.”
Adewa revealed plans to recruit more personnel for the security outfit of the state government.
Adewa said, “They (state government) said they would recruit. We are waiting, we are eager, we are on it. This will be made public.”
Disclosing that the outfit had a little over 300 personnel, the commander said the threat perception and the financial capacity of the southwest states would determine the operations of the corps in each state.
He said, “Amotekun in Ekiti State is barely 300. The threat perception or threat level, the purse and the land mass of the different states are different. These are the factors.”
The Ekiti State Commissioner for Information, Taiwo Olatunbosun, said Governor Biodun Oyebanji’s administration had done a lot to keep Ekiti communities and people safe.
Olatunbosun said, “We are doing a lot and we will continue to do a lot. We are investing in technology to prevent crime anywhere in the state.
‘’The state government has also ensured collaboration among the conventional security agencies and the local arm to work together to ensure the safety of lives and property.”
He touted the deployment of Agro Rangers and Peace Corps as a game-changer in the state’s security strategy.
He stated, “The establishment of the Agro Rangers to join the Amotekun and the Peace Corps that we have as the local detachment of our security to collaborate with the conventional ones is also part of the move.
‘’They understand the terrain, they understand the environment and the nooks and crannies of the state and that has helped.
“We have equally established a security committee that involves both the traditional rulers and the leadership of the local councils, which involves all security networks. We have done that to make Ekiti a safer place for everybody.’’
Speaking further, the commissioner noted that the governor had also secured the support of the military and police at the federal level.
He added, “Mr Governor went ahead to meet with the security chiefs at the national level to get their support, which has assisted in a way with the deployment of the military in some strategic places in Ekiti State.
“Apart from that, we have established a task force of security that we have deployed in some of our farm cluster areas where we have our farm settlements across Ekiti ie Emure/Ise axis, Iyemero/Ayede axis, Oke Ako axis, Erio/Aramoko axis, Ikere/Igbara Odo axis etc, we have ensured that we have established a task force patrolling those places.
“The cluster farming, the agricultural revolution and mechanised farming that we are involved in have equally made it impossible for anybody to have a hiding place in Ekiti.
“We are clearing more farms, which have made those areas a no-go area for anybody willing to operate in the dark, either bandits, kidnappers or their likes,” the commissioner stated.
(PUNCH NEWS)
