Amotekun arrests 21 illegal immigrants in Ondo

The Ondo State Security Network Agency, known as Amotekun Corps, has arrested 53 suspects. This includes 21 undocumented foreigners who were allegedly living in two apartments in Owo, the capital of Owo Local Government Area in the state.

The suspects were shown to the public at the corps' headquarters in Akure on Monday. They are accused of different crimes such as kidnapping, self-kidnapping, murder, attempted murder, burglary, stealing, and cultism.

While parading the suspects, the state commander of the corps, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye, said the 21 foreigners were arrested based on information from the Fulani community in the state.

Adeleye mentioned that the suspects claimed they came to Nigeria from nearby West African countries for menial jobs and phone repairs. But they could not show any documents that allowed them to stay in the country.

He said the command has seen more foreigners moving through the state's forests and cities in recent months, often pretending to be doing different jobs.

Adeleye warned the public about how foreigners move around the state. He said, "I want to call the attention of the general public to the embarrassing way that foreigners traverse the state’s forests and cities under different guises."

He added, "Consistently in the last three months, we’ve been having foreigners pretending to be selling phones, pretending to be repairing phones, living in hotels that what they came into the country for is not commensurate with."

Adeleye said they have directed these suspects to other security agencies for further checks. He noted, "Again today, we have 21 of them that rented only two apartments in Owo under the guise of coming in from neighbouring West African countries to do menial jobs and repairs of phones, being coordinated and assisted by indigenes."

He stated that the foreigners do not even have ECOWAS papers to confirm their stay. He also warned that landlords of these apartments might face questions, claiming they care more about collecting rent than knowing about their tenants.

He explained that undocumented foreigners left by their sponsors might fall into crime. He said, "Apart from being likely to be suspected illegal immigrants, most times when their sponsors abandon them, they become ready tools as criminals and accomplices."

Adeleye confirmed that the 21 foreigners will be handed over to the relevant government agency for further investigation.

In addition, Adeleye said the command uncovered a self-kidnapping group with four suspects who used social media to make fake alarms and ask for money.

He pointed out that one man reported to the Amotekun Corps that his siblings had been kidnapped. But later it turned out he was part of the scheme.

Adeleye said, "We have four people here today that give self-kidnapping and raise false alarms using social media. We moved in and were able to arrest the first two."

He continued, "Upon detailed investigation, we found out that the man who rushed to the Amotekun Corps office to report that his siblings were kidnapped turned out to be an accomplice. And upon detailed scrutiny, he led us to his home where we found the man they claimed had been kidnapped."

Adeleye also shared that seven other suspects were arrested for kidnapping activities after working with the Fulani community.

He mentioned that a military uniform was found with one of the kidnappers and two boys were rescued from their captors. He stated that one of the boys was injured with a machete during the attack but was rescued alive and taken for medical care.

He said, "With the cooperation we received from the Fulani community, we were able to jointly carry out an operation where a military uniform was recovered from one of the kidnappers, and we successfully retrieved the two kidnapped boys, though wounded."

Adeleye praised the Fulani community for their help in identifying and catching suspected criminals. He also thanked the Ondo State Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, for supporting the corps in fighting crime in the state.