Ondo state security network aka Amotekun have arrested a number of persons in connection with the killing of worshippers at St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State.
The Commander of the Amotekun corps, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye, revealed this to reporters on Thursday in Akure. He added that some of the attack’s firearms had also been found on the suspects and in the getaway car.
Although Adeleye did not specify the precise number of individuals detained in connection with the attack, he assured the state’s citizens that the Corps would detain anybody linked to the June 5, 2022, massacre of worshippers in the church and vowed that they would not escape the reach of the law.
He said: “As regards the Owo incident, we have recovered the last vehicle they used for that operation and we made some arrests. We have also recovered some vital things which we are working on.
“Several people have been arrested concerning the Owo issue as well as a number of equipment. On that day, we pursued them to the point we recovered the vehicle and we are still pursuing them.
“We have told you that until we get to the root, I can assure you that the perpetrators and their sponsors will be brought to book.”
At the command’s headquarters, the Amotekun Corps also paraded 71 additional alleged criminals who were charged with kidnapping, livestock rustling, robbery, and cultism.
They were arrested across the state’s 18 local government units, according to the Corps commander.
He said: “In the last few weeks, we have been under serious pressure of attack. In the same vein, men of the Amotekun Agency have equally gone out after these criminals.
“We are parading 71 suspects. The suspects were arrested within the last month for various offences including armed robbery, cattle rustling, suspected kidnappers, rapists, fraudsters and human traffickers.
“The 71 suspects were picked while committing offences and others were tracked to their hideouts in forests.
“We have been able to get a cartel that specialises in stealing and dismantling motorbikes which we all know as okada. Also, we were able to recover over 50 motorbikes during the operation from these criminals.
“We also got reports from some herdsmen that their cattle were stolen. We went after them and brought the cows back to the Fulani herdsmen that owned the cow.
“We have a group of small boys who are under 18 years old that turned themselves into a cartel of criminals in a particular local government in Ondo State and armed themselves. They belong to a cult group called ‘Agbado’. We were able to arrest 12 out of the 17 members.
“We have about three to four suspected kidnappers and we intend to take most of these suspects, especially the ones we have concluded their investigations to the DPP and for their onward prosecution in court.
“We want to assure the good people of Ondo State that we will not rest on our oars until we get to the bottom of ridding the state of criminal elements. There is no hiding place for them. They turned the heat on us and we have also turned the heat on them.
“Recently, the number of this sad occurrence in the Northern Senatorial part of the state had been on the increase. We are intensifying all efforts to get to the root of the mischievous and barbaric acts of these criminal elements
“So to the people in the Northern Senatorial district, especially in the bother towns in Akoko, we will continue with our operation clean-up until when the very last of these criminals are driven out of this forest.”
