The Ondo State Security Network Agency, also known as Amotekun, has nabbed six suspected members of a gang of robbers notorious for drugging, hypnotising and robbing in the state.
The suspects were paraded on Friday at the agency’s headquarters in Akure, alongside other suspects held for other offences.
The Amotekun Corps Commander, Adetunji Adeleye, said other suspects were arrested for armed robbery, kidnapping, illegal possession of fire arms, fraud, stealing among others.
According to Mr Adeleye, the gang of burglars usually sprayed chemical substance in the rooms to induce the occupants to sleep off, before the burglars broke into houses to rob and rape.
“We have a group of burglars that specialised in drugging unsuspecting residents of various houses, so, they will sleep off, break the burglary, enter their houses, dispose them of their valuables while some of them are raped,” he said.
“And because of the high dose of drugs they injected on their system, some of them don’t even wake up, so, we’ve been able to break that syndicate too.
“They don’t normally have direct access to the victims. What they do is to jump across their fences, and pump in with syringe, this chemicals into their rooms, wait for about 30 to 40 minutes, every living thing inside the room sleeps off. So, whatever they do, you don’t know again.”
He also said the corps was still tracking the kidnappers of a 66-year old monarch, Clement Olukotun, the Oloso of Oso, in Ajowa- Akoko, Akoko North-West Local Government Area of the state.
While speaking on the recently launched 24-hour inter-border surveillance and patrol across the southwest region of the country tagged “Operation Gba’le – Gba’ko” (sweeping home and forest), Mr Adeleye said the corps rescued some victims and made some arrests.
“Most of this arrest, after due diligence, will be prosecuted and the law will take its course on them. So, that is why we are here to show part of the dividends of operation gba’le-gba’ko of the Ondo State Security Network Agency, we have 32 suspects here awaiting trial,” he said.
“You will find out that most of this criminal activities take place in places where there are no Amotekun, majority of the criminal activities between Ondo/Osun, Ondo/Oyo and Ondo/Ogun is very easy for us since we work together.
“That is why they take solace in the boundary of Edo and Kogi. But of late, I give it to the conventional Security agencies both in Ondo, Edo and Kogi states, we’ve been working together and we are seeing positive results.”
Mr Adeleye said the corps also apprehended a syndicate that specialised in hypnotising, robbing and kidnapping for ransom.
“We had reports that innocent citizens doing their normal businesses are apprehended, kidnapped, robbed, especially around Oja Oba, First Bank, Post Office and Ilesha Garage areas, so we laid siege and we were able to apprehend the group,” he added.
The Corps had listed lack of automatic weapons as one of the drawbacks of its operations since its inception.
Governor Rotimi Akeredolu has been calling on the federal government to allow the corps to bear weapons, but the government insisted that would be illegal.