Category: Saturday Magazine

•We’ve flushed out criminals, restored farming – Commander

Concerned by the rising wave of insecurity bedevilling the South-West region, governors of the six states met in 2020 to chart a collective response, culminating in the birth of the Western Nigeria Security Network Agency otherwise known as Operation Àmòtékún. Ondo State correspondent of The Nation, TOSIN TOPE, takes a look at the indigenous security outfit’s five-year journey in the state and the concerns of residents over its effectiveness in tackling crime.

Amid Fanfare, Southwest governors, led by the then Ondo State governor and Chairman of the South-West Governors’ Forum (SGF), the late Rotimi Akeredolu, converged on Ibadan, Oyo State capital, to unveil the Amotekun Corps. The name, a Yoruba word for the leopard, symbolises vigilance, agility and readiness to defend the region.

According to the initiators, the local security outfit was designed to tackle some heinous crimes confronting the Southwest region, particularly clashes between farmers and herders, kidnapping, armed robbery and recurrent cult clashes.

To support the operations of Amotekun, the governors made significant contributions, donating vehicles, motorcycles, security gadgets, and other equipment with a view to strengthening its capacity to address the region’s security challenges.

The launch of the Amotekun Corps was greeted with optimism and high expectations, rekindling the faith of the people of Ondo State, who had long grappled with rising insecurity, a menace that had not only plagued the Southwest but the nation as a whole.

Sigh of relief

Once known for its peaceful atmosphere, the sunshine state had, over time, become unsafe for residents and motorists across much of its 18 local government areas – with kidnapping, banditry, armed robbery, rape, cultism and farmers/herders clashes on the rise.

In particular, the northern senatorial district of Ondo emerged as a hotspot, where marauders unleashed frequent and deadly attacks, leaving many residents unable to move freely for fear of being targeted.

Amid these cries for help, the late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu took the bull by the horns, determined to protect his people from the aggressors. In August 2020, he formally inaugurated and equipped the Amotekun Corps in Ondo State, marking a decisive step in the fight against insecurity.

Unveiling the Amotekun Corps at the Gani Fawehinmi Arcade in Akure, the state capital, the late governor declared that with an indigenous security outfit now in place to confront criminal elements, it would no longer be business as usual for the criminals laying siege to highways and farmlands to abduct people for ransom.

“It was so horrible that marauders laid siege to the highways as well as in the farmlands, waiting to kidnap or devour anyone in sight.

“With the launch of the Amotekun, we resolved that it shall be no retreat, no surrender. We are not going to be intimidated or blackmailed.

”It is incontrovertible that the existing security framework is being overstretched, and we had to devise a means of confronting the challenge of insecurity head-on. That was when the concept of Amotekun came up.

“As Yoruba, we are not known to surrender to our adversaries. And if our forebears did not, we should not,” he declared, signalling the birth of the indigenous security outfit to protect the people and any internal and external aggressors aiming to wreak havoc in the state.

High expectations amid sorrow, anger, bloodshed

But five years on, many residents are asking whether Amotekun has truly lived up to expectations in tackling the state’s security challenges.

While acknowledging that the corps have made notable strides, including flushing out criminals from some hideouts and preventing certain crimes before they occur, they saluted the foresight of the late Governor Akeredolu.

The residents say pockets of insecurity remain, with kidnapping for ransom, banditry, and cult-related violence continuing to cast a shadow on parts of the state and raising fresh questions about the Amotekun Corps’ reach and capacity.

A few of them who spoke with ‘The Nation’ lamented that the criminal activities of armed groups terrorising and killing farmers and locals while using the state forest reserves as hideouts persist, particularly in Akure North Local Government Area of the state which has been the hotbed of the gang’s criminal activities.

One incident that stirred deep concern was the abduction and killing of Nelson Adepoyigi, the local chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ifon, Ose LGA of the state in May 2025.

Adepoyigi, Chairman of Ward 5 in Ifon, was reportedly ambushed by bandits at the entrance of his home shortly after returning from his farm on the Ifon-Owo Road. The gunmen demanded a ransom of N100 million but eventually collected N5 million before killing the APC chieftain in their den.

Before he was killed, the kidnappers had held hostage two ransom bearers who took the N5 million and food items to them as ransom in a bid to secure Adepoyigi’s release. After increasing their captives to three with the abduction of the ransom bearers, they made a fresh demand of N30 million to secure the release of the three captives. But the APC chieftain was killed while they freed the two men.

Adepoyigi’s tragic case rekindled painful memories of another high-profile killing nearly five years earlier of the Olufon of Ifon, Oba Israel Adeusi. The first-class monarch was shot dead in November 2020 by suspected kidnappers at Elegbeka on the Benin-Owo-Akure Expressway in the same Ose LGA while returning from a meeting of the Council of Obas in Akure.

The killing of Oba Adeusi occurred just hours after daredevil armed robbers attacked a branch of an old-generation bank in Ode-Irele, headquarters of Irele Local Government Area.

In another incident, 46-year-old health worker Akinola Oyabiyi was shot dead by suspected bandits while returning home from work in February this year.

Oyebiyi had reportedly resisted an attempted abduction at Eleyowo community, just a stone’s throw from Akure Airport at Oba Ile in Akure North Local Government Area of the state.

His attackers kidnapped his young son, who spent about 10 days in captivity before regaining freedom after the family had paid an undisclosed ransom.

Bloody attacks on communities

In March and April, the state was jolted by the gruesome murder of several farmers in Aba Oyinbo, Akure North Local Government Area. The killings sparked outrage, prompting locals to stage a protest at Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa’s office in Alagbaka, Akure. Carrying the corpses of the slain farmers and clutching leaves – a traditional symbol of distress – the protesters demanded urgent action, declaring that they had had enough of persistent attacks on their community.

The violence was mirrored in four other neighbouring communities of Ademekun, Aba Pastor, Aba Sunday and Alajido, where suspected bandits struck in the dead of night, murdering no fewer than 14 farmers in their sleep. The coordinated attacks deepened fears in the minds of the natives suggesting that rural areas of the state remain dangerously exposed despite security measures.

The marauders struck around 2 am., plunging the sleeping communities into a nightmare. They unleashed terror on farmers and their families, leaving behind a trail of blood, sorrow, anger and anguish. By dawn, the villages were littered with the corpses of slain farmers splattered with blood stains, marked by fresh wounds, and scarred by burnt homes. Many houses and huts were reduced to ashes in the wake of the brutal assault.

Beyond the killings, cases of abduction have persisted despite concerted effort, particularly by the Amotekun Corps, to nip kidnapping in the bud.

In May, three members of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry were abducted while returning from a Bible study session in the Kasemola area, near Ogbese in Akure North Local Government Area. Their captors demanded a ransom of N15 million for their release, adding yet another case to the growing list of unresolved security concerns in the state.

Amid these hues, the state also recorded a string of high-profile kidnappings, including the abduction of 10 travellers along the Benin-Owo highway at Ipele in Owo Local Government Area. The victims, who were travelling from Akwa Ibom State to Akure, were ambushed by bandits and herded into the bush.

In another incident, nine surveyors working at a site in Ilu Abo, Akure Local Government Area, were abducted. Their captors initially demanded N100 million for their release. But after negotiations, N20 million was reportedly paid. The victims spent more than a week in captivity before regaining freedom.

While Amotekun operatives pursued the perpetrators, another case emerged: three farmers, all graduates of the Federal College of Agriculture (FECA), were seized while working on their farmland in Akure North. The armed group marched them into the dense forest, just a few kilometres from Akure Airport in Oba Ile. The kidnappers demanded N300 million but eventually accepted N5 million after the victims had spent several days in captivity.

Shortly afterwards, a similar case occurred in the same area, where a farmer and his labourer were kidnapped on their way back from the farm. They were released only after their families had raised an undisclosed sum as ransom.

The foregoing and other incidents have fuelled growing public doubts over the effectiveness of the Amotekun Corps. While security experts point to the influx of armed gangs into Ondo and other South-West states often through porous border towns, villages and rural communities, many residents wonder whether the state’s indigenous security outfit is truly making the desired impact.

Just last week, a staff member of the Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), Omoniyi Eleyinmi, was abducted  while returning from office to his residence at Supare-Akoko in the Akoko Southwest LGA of the state. Eleyinmi was seized by the gun-wielding men, who had laid an ambush at his home, shooting sporadically as he stepped down from a commercial motorcycle he rode home from office before whisking him away.

The kidnappers initially demanded N100 million ransom from the family but later reduced it to N7 million after a series of negotiations.

Moved by his abduction, the AAUA Alumni Association – of which Eleyinmi is a member – launched an appeal for donations to raise the ransom. The association’s Global Publicity Secretary, O’Seun Ogunsakin, asked the members and Nigerians to donate within 24 hours to secure his release, providing a Polaris Bank account number for that purpose.

However, the kidnap victim regained his freedom last Sunday, nearly a week after his abduction, and was immediately reunited with his family.

Nemesis, however, caught up with his suspected abductors who were later nabbed by the police while allegedly sharing their ransom.

In a viral video posted on social media, the gang of three suspects reported to have abducted Eleyinmi were nabbed inside a forest in Ago panu – a village and settlement between Oba Akoko and Owo area of the state.

While the abduction cases were going on, a self-acclaimed president of the Afenifere Youth Council, Prince Eniola Ojajuni, sparked controversy in March after alleging that four traditional rulers in Ondo State were conniving with kidnappers amid the surge in abduction cases.

Ojajuni, whose claims quickly went viral on social media, said his revelation was based on conversations he had with his abductors in February this year while travelling from Ondo State to Abuja.

Although he did not name the monarchs, Ojajuni claimed they were from the Northern Senatorial District — an axis that has recorded frequent killings, kidnappings and cases of rape by armed groups.

“Four Obas are working with the Fulani herdsmen from Ondo North because we don’t want to talk because the governor is from Ilaje Local Government Area,” Ojajuni said.

He also criticised security agencies, particularly the police, for failing to invite him for a formal debriefing over his ordeal. According to him, the abductors, mostly herdsmen, are the same elements being confronted by the Amotekun Corps.

Residents call for better funding, intelligence for Amotekun Corps

Residents of the state have called for urgent and adequate equipment of the Amotekun Corps to confront the rising wave of abductions and killings. Abiola Oluwajana, a resident, expressed worries over the increasing incidents of kidnapping in both homes and farms, alleging that bandits now operate with the help of informants within communities.

“If not for Amotekun, things would be far worse,” Oluwajana said.

“Insecurity is not peculiar to Ondo State. It is a national and global problem. But if Amotekun were well equipped, they could do more to fight these criminals.

“You can’t compare the AK-47 rifles and other weapons the bandits carry with what our indigenous security personnel use.

“Southwest governors need to meet again and address this, because residents are living in fear.

“It also feels like Amotekun is no longer funded to operate effectively.”

He also advised the Corps to strengthen its intelligence-gathering capabilities, warning that kidnappers now storm residential areas after identifying victims through insider information.

“These senseless killings and abductions are serious. Amotekun can tackle them, but they need more government assistance,” Oluwajana added.

Fear is particularly high among Akoko residents of border towns near Kogi and Edo states, where locals report a growing influx of unfamiliar faces.

Oluwakemi Adeogun, a businesswoman and farmer in Akunnu Akoko, stressed the need for stronger collaboration between Amotekun, the Vigilante Group of Nigeria, local hunters and other security agencies.

“It sometimes feels like Amotekun is working in isolation,” she said.

“Many of these strangers enter the state through border towns posing as scavengers, but they are actually informants.

“Amotekun should deploy more personnel to rural and border areas, because that is where these criminals first arrive before moving to commit crimes.

“With adequate support, I know they can handle this security breach.”

PDP, APC bicker over escalating security challenges

As residents voice their growing concerns over escalating insecurity in the state, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the November 16, 2024 election and former deputy governor, Agboola Ajayi, recently clashed with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over the worsening security situation in the sunshine state.

Ajayi had, in a statement, urged residents to defend themselves and accused Governor Aiyedatiwa of failing to adequately address the threat posed by the armed groups. He specifically called for an urgent overhaul of the Amotekun Corps to combat bandit attacks.

“The need to take full grip of this crisis cannot be delayed a day longer. I call on the governor to seek help and take actions that will take Ondo State back from the grip of invading bandits forthwith.

“The government must revamp Amotekun immediately and re-create armed forest guards to police our forests and uproot all invading criminal elements so that peace can reign,” Ajayi remarked.

But the advice did not sit well with the ruling APC, which dismissed Ajayi’s remark as politically motivated and highly misleading.

APC’s spokesperson in the state, Steve Otaloro, argued that the prevailing security crisis is not peculiar to Ondo but part of a nationwide challenge.

“Mr. Agboola Ajayi’s assertions regarding the alleged inefficacy of the current administration are not only unfounded but also politically motivated,” the APC said.

“His comments reflect a blatant attempt to exploit the sensitive issue of security for political gain, especially after his significant defeat in the last governorship election.

“Instead of offering constructive criticism or solutions, he chooses to engage in fear-mongering, which only serves to create panic among the populace.”

Aiyedatiwa distribute 50 vehicles for security agencies, including Amotekun, to fight crime

In June, Governor Aiyedatiwa restated his administration’s commitment to safeguarding lives and property when he presented 50 new operational vehicles to security agencies, including the Amotekun Corps in the state.

At the distribution, which was part of the activities used to mark his first 100 days in office, the governor described the gesture as a significant milestone in the collective quest for a safer and more secure Ondo State, stating that the vehicles would boost the capacity and responsiveness of security formations across the state, ensuring swift action to any security alert or criminal activity.

“Today’s distribution of operational vehicles is a clear demonstration of our administration’s resolve to strengthen the effectiveness, efficiency, and capacity of our security agencies,” he said.

Highlighting the importance of synergy among all security stakeholders, Aiyedatiwa noted that the initiative aligns with his administration’s development blueprint tagged ‘Our Ease’, which places the safety of citizens at its core.

Amotekun has filled critical gap in community-level security – Ondo AG, Ajulo

Reacting, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in the State, Kayode Ajulo, SAN, opined that the Amotekun Corps has “performed exceptionally well” in tackling security challenges in the state, stressing that the regional security outfit remained the most potent reference point to address the menace of incessant kidnappings and banditry in the region.

“Amötekun has performed exceptionally well in Ondo State, and indeed, across all Southwest states, The corps has filled a critical gap in community-level security, especially in areas where the national structure cannot adequately cover.

“In fact, in our advocacy for this constitutional reform, Amötékun remains our most potent reference point. Its achievements speak for themselves, and no one can deny the remarkable results recorded.

“Nigeria’s growing population and evolving crime patterns require a decentralised policing model.

“Our current ratio of one police officer to 600-650 citizens is already far below the UN’s recommended ratio of 1,450, which, in my view, is still inadequate for a country as complex as ours.

“Amötèkun is a clear example that with the right support, state-controlled security structures can work and work effectively.”

Dealt penalty for kidnappers

Disturbed by the growing concerns over incessant abduction traced to herders, the state government in June announced that henceforth, anyone found guilty of kidnapping in the state would face the death by hanging.

Briefing reporters after the meeting of the State Executive Council in Akure, the state capital, Ajulo said the government was taking stringent action, including demolishing buildings and facilities used by kidnappers in committing crimes..

He explained that the anti-kidnapping law would be reviewed by the Ondo State House of Assembly, which will prescribe the death penalty for kidnappers by hanging, stressing that the council was also concerned about the spate of cultism in the state and would do everything necessary to decisively deal with the situation.

 “The governor, being a lover of the rule of law, would not go the way it’s being done in other states without following necessary court due process.

“We should know that we have investors coming to the state, and as part of the measures, we should ensure we encourage them that they and their investments are safe,” Ajulo noted.

Ondo becomes the second state this year to have called for death by hanging for kidnappers. In April, the Edo governor, Monday Okpebholo, said kidnappers caught in the state would face the death penalty, specifically by hanging.

Success amidst challenges

Speaking on the challenges that have bedevilled the operations of the regional security outfit in the state upon its inception, the Commander of the Amotekun Corps in Ondo, Adetunji Adeleye, told ‘The Nation’ that the farmers and herders crisis was the major issue that bedevilled the local security agency upon inception.

According to Adeleye, local farmers had completely left their farms for fear of being kidnapped and killed after investing lots of money and resources. But respite later came their way following the birth of the Amotekun Corps who uses the option of ‘mediation’ between the farmers and the leadership of Miyetti Allah to resolved the perennial security threat and crises.

“So, the biggest of the challenges we were faced with when we came in were the farmers’ clashes, and we had close to 20,000 petitions within six months.

“We started with mass education of both the herders and the farmers, explaining the limitations of each group.

“Farmers, yes, you can farm, but don’t take the law into your hands by killing cows. Herders, you have a right to rearing your cows, but you don’t have a right to disrupt the business of the other group, which is farming. So, don’t destroy their crops. Where it happens, we mediate.

“So, after that, we brought the leadership of the farmers and the Miyetti Allah together, and we took them to the government, because at that time, there was serious food insecurity in the state and in the country generally, and because people were no longer going to farm.

“So, I would want people back. The government wanted people to go back to farms. So, we were able to restore normalcy within a year, though very difficult.

“We impounded well over 10,000 cows. Within the period of about three years, we arrested about 170 in the first three years.

“But along the line, we found a bottleneck in the judicial attention needed. So, we approached the government, and graciously, the House of Assembly and the state government came up with the anti-open-grazing law, which is in force up till today, and I will tell you that it really enhanced our operations and brought down farmers-herders clashes to reality.

“To further address farmers-herders clash, using the the anti-open-grazing law, there is a total ban on night grazing, because most of the crops were destroyed in the night, then underage grazing, because they give these cows to small children; 100 cows to 2, 3, 4 children. They don’t have good control of them. “There is a ban on metropolitan grazing. There is a ban on highway grazing,” he added.

While identifying other security challenges such as bank robberies in the past and activities of commercial motorcyclists otherwise known as ‘Okada riders’ used in perpetrating crime, Adeleye said the influx of strangers to the state also increased the security breaches.

He noted that the development made the Amotekun Corps to deploy personnel to the border towns for patrol and mount the boundaries in the northern senatorial district of the state in collaboration with conventional security agencies.

“There is no Amotekun in Edo. We only mount to the boundary of Ondo State on both sides, the Benin side and the other side, and this tremendously brought down criminal activities there.

“Of late, we started having upsurge in kidnapping, especially initially at that time at the borders, knowing full well that there’s no way to cooperate within the metropolis.

“So we moved to the northern territorial districts where we had this upsurge, and before then, in the last one year, we’ve been having a very huge influx of strange people in the states.

“They bring them in trailers; young men in their hundreds. And most times when we profile them, they don’t even know where they are going. They say they just park trucks and they put them inside.

“The state government decided that we should be sending them back because the freedom of movement in the country does not preclude the fact that it must be a purposeful movement. You must know where you are going, what you are going to do, you must be able to justify it.

“But most of the time, these people, they don’t have anything.

“Just when we are getting over that, we have this upsurge of thousands of them coming in as hunters. Somebody leaving the extreme north, coming down to the southwest to hunt, as if there are no forests before you get to Ondo State.”

In making efforts to overcome the security crisis, the Amotekun boss affirmed, the security outfit is also confronted with the challenges of equipment to tackle the criminal elements ravaging the state.

“The challenges that we face have to do with equipment. Most of the time, we are faced with bandits that operate automatic weapons.

“But, thank God, Amotekun from inception is conventional and unconventional security. So we also did not allow that to deter us.”

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He added: “We faced them, but I can tell you that it’s not a tea party. But at least we have been able to curtail them and bring normalcy.

“Recently, there were breaches in Akure North. We found out that when we patrol, we go there, we come back. They only allow us to come out of the place before they strike.

“So the government decided that the Amotekun rangers be domiciled right in the forest. So as we talk now, we have more than 10 station posts, where the Amotekun rangers have their offices inside the forest. And this has brought to normalcy farming activities there.

“This is not to say that there are not one or two security breaches, or it has greatly reduced. At least people can go back to the farm. People are beginning to have confidence in farming the way it should be.

“We ensure that 18 local governments and state headquarters are policed. Every major outlet you find Amotekun officers in uniform and plain clothes. And I can assure you that this year that is coming, we will be able to ensure and guarantee safety of lives and property.”

Despite the challenges, the Amotekun boss said the security outfit has recorded success, especially with the prosecution and conviction of over 5, 000 arrested criminals in the state through the office of the Public Prosecution, Ministry of Justice.

He also disclosed that the training and retraining of its personnel using resources both within and outside the state have been a great way to enhance the capacity and efficiency of the Amotekun officers for operations.

“Cumulatively, we have secured prosecution and conviction of hundreds of criminals. And we have well over 5,000 criminal cases being prosecuted using the office of the Public Prosecution Ministry of Justice and Amotekun itself.

“Since the amended law of Amotekun allows us to arrest, investigate and prosecute, we have been exploring this. We thank the government for the support.

“Recently, the government even increased and fulfilled the minimum wage of workers. In actual fact, what we do now is an enhance Amotekun salary scale, which is very good for the operatives.

“It’s a good morale booster for them. And you find out that the security situation of the states that went wild about six weeks ago had been brought to normalcy.

“And we will continue to do our best to ensure that we give the best in terms of quality security services to the good people of Ondo State.

“So we thank the governor of Ondo State for the support while looking for procurement of additional equipment to enhance our operations.

“And apart from that, we do routine training for operatives, for professionals, for drivers. The last of those training was about three weeks ago when all management staff, all area commanders, all divisional officers, all local government coordinators, and heads of all tactical units were brought together, in addition to metropolitan patrol officers, and were brought together for intensive training at the headquarters by experts.”