By Peter Dada
The Ondo State Command of the South-West Security Network, also known as Amotekun Corps, has arrested 20 men for kidnapping in the state.
The corps also arrested nine other persons for various criminal offenses
Parading the suspects at the headquarters of the command in Akure, the state capital on Monday, the Amotekun Corps Commander, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye, explained that the suspected kidnappers were arrested in some of the forests in the state.
Adeleye said, “The resurgence of kidnapping within the state made us go deep into forests to fish out these kidnappers. We have a total number of 29 criminals, and about 20 of them are suspected kidnappers.
“As a matter of fact, we had to cross the river before we were able to arrest them, and we were equally attacked by the majority of them. We also found out that these criminals live in our forests along Ala-Dada, Jugbere, up to Ijagba ( in Owo Local Government ) and we were able to comb the forests.
“Some of these criminals engage in feeding victims, charging their phones, and a lot of other things that they do.
One of the kidnap victims who was at the parade, Regina Odey said she spent seven days in the den of the bandits and she was released after the payment of N350,000.
The 23-year-old victim added that the bandits kidnapped her on the farm and beat her with cassava sticks.
“On that fateful day, we were at the farm and suddenly we saw these three kidnappers coming towards where we are, I now told my sisters that these Fulani people are coming to our side and that I’m going to run, but they ( my sisters) said that I should not go anywhere that they are not going to do anything to us.
“When they got to us, they asked us to kneel down and we knelt down. At that moment we started begging them. Two of them were with guns while the third person was with cutlass. They later asked me to stand up and told me that I should be following them. They took a cassava stick and started beating me as we were going.
“I spent seven days with them, they asked for my dad’s number but I told them that I did not know it off-hand because I have already lost my memory. I later told them I did not have parents again, that they had died, and that I just came to the village to help my sisters so that I will get money to take care of myself when I get back to school.
“But they said it was a lie, that they knew everything about my family and I later gave them my number because I was not with my phone on that day. Immediately I gave them my number, they started calling the line. One of my sisters that came from Akure to our village picked up the call and they informed her that they have kidnapped me,” she narrated.
