Ondo Killings: When the ‘leopard’ fails to growl

In response to the rising insecurity plaguing Nigeria’s southwest, governors in the region met in 2020 to establish the Western Nigeria Security Network Agency, otherwise known as Operation Àmòtékún. Five years on, Weekend Trust reviews the performance of the indigenous security outfit amid growing concerns over security challenges in Ondo State.   Birth of a […]

In response to the rising insecurity plaguing Nigeria’s southwest, governors in the region met in 2020 to establish the Western Nigeria Security Network Agency, otherwise known as Operation Àmòtékún. Five years on, Weekend Trust reviews the performance of the indigenous security outfit amid growing concerns over security challenges in Ondo State.

 

Birth of a regional security force

With insecurity threatening to overwhelm the nation, the governors of the South West, led by the late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State—who also chaired the Southwest Governors Forum—convened in Ibadan to create Amotekun, a Yoruba word meaning “leopard”.

The outfit was launched to combat heinous crimes such as kidnapping, banditry, armed robbery, cultism, and farmer-herder clashes, which had become rampant in the region. To bolster its capacity, the governors provided vehicles, motorcycles, gadgets, and other equipment.

Yet, despite its creation, Ondo – a state once known for its peaceful nature – has remained unsafe, particularly in the northern senatorial district, where marauders continue to terrorize residents with alarming frequency.

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In August 2020, amid growing anxiety, Governor Akeredolu launched the Ondo State chapter of Amotekun at the Gani Fawehinmi Arcade in Akure. Declaring a new era in community policing, he vowed to protect the people.

“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 there 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 Yorubas, we are not known to surrender to our adversaries, and if our forebears did not, we should not,” he had declared.

 

Five years on: Still living in fear

Despite initial optimism, residents now question whether Amotekun has fulfilled its mandate. While some achievements have been recorded, incidents of kidnapping, banditry, and cultism persist.

According to some of them who spoke to Weekend Trust, the criminal activities of armed groups terrorising and killing farmers and residents, using the forest reserves as their den, are still on the rise, especially in the Akure North Local Government Area of the state.

One of the most disturbing incidents was the recent abduction and killing of Nelson Adepoyigi, APC Ward 5 Chairman in Ifon, Ose LGA. He was kidnapped on the Ifon/Owo Road, and after a ransom of N5 million was paid (down from an initial demand of N100 million), he was still killed in captivity.

This echoes the 2020 killing of Oba Israel Adeusi, the Olufon of Ifon, who was shot by suspected kidnappers at Elegbeka on his way from a council of Obas meeting in Akure.

The attack and killing of Oba Adeusi happened a few hours after daredevil armed robbers attacked a branch of an old generation bank in Ode-Irele, headquarters of Irele Local Government Area of the state.

 

Bloody attacks on communities

In a gruesome midnight raid a few months ago, bandits stormed four communities – Ademekun, Aba Pastor, Aba Sunday, and Alajido – killing at least 14 farmers in their sleep. Several homes were torched. At Aba Oyinbo in Akure North, another violent attack left multiple farmers dead, prompting a protest at Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa’s office, where locals displayed the corpses.

Aside from the killings, kidnapping has become a daily fear. In May, three members of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry were kidnapped after Bible study in the Ogbese axis. Earlier, 10 travellers from Akwa Ibom were abducted on the Benin/Owo Road. Nine surveyors working in Ilu Abo were also seized, with a ransom of N100 million demanded, though N20 million was eventually paid.

Farmers and their labourers are routinely abducted in Akure North, prompting residents to ask if the Amotekun operatives are even working.

Last week, Prince Eniola Ojajuni, self-acclaimed President of the Afenifere Youth Council, accused four unnamed traditional rulers from the state of conniving with kidnappers. 

Ojajuni, who set social media on fire with his allegation, said his revelation stemmed from his interaction with his abductors in February this year while travelling from the state to Abuja.

Although, he did not mention the names of the traditional rulers, Ojajuni said the traditional rulers are from the Northern senatorial district of the state, the axis which has witnessed records of killings, kidnapping and rape by armed groups.

Ojajuni also criticised security agencies, particularly the police, for failing to invite him for a debriefing over his ordeal in the hands of his abductors.

Kayode Agboola, a resident, emphasized the need to better equip Amotekun, noting the disparity between the firepower of criminals and that of the Corps.

“The truth is that if not for Amotekun, things would have gone worse. We know and understand that insecurity is not peculiar to Ondo State. It is a national and global tragedy. There are killings and abductions everywhere, but if Amotekun is well-equipped, I am sure they would fight these criminals.

“You can’t compare the ammunition in the hands of those bandits with what our indigenous security personnel are using. Look at the AK-47 rifles and other guns they are using. It is high time the Southwest governors meet again to address this. Residents are living in fear, and the feeling is that the Amotekun is no longer funded to work,” he said.

Mrs. Adebisi, an auxiliary nurse in Akunnu Akoko, called for improved collaboration between Amotekun, vigilantes, hunters, and other agencies.

 

Commander Adeleye speaks

In an interview with Weekend Trust, Amotekun Corps Commander, Chief Adetunji Adeleye, described the farmers-herders crisis as their greatest initial challenge.

“So, the biggest of the challenges we faced when we came in were the herders/farmers’ clashes, and we had close to 20,000 petitions within six months. We started by mass education of both the herders and the farmers, explaining the limitations of each group.

“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 way, 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 to today, and I will tell you that it really enhanced our operations and brought down farmers-herders clashes.

“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 little children, they don’t have good control of them. There is a ban on metropolitan grazing, there is a ban on highway grazing,” Mr Adeleye added.

He also highlighted the problem of unchecked migration into the state.

According to him, the development led the Amotekun Corps to deploy personnel to the border towns for patrol 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 has tremendously brought down criminal activities there.

“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 parked the truck and 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.

“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 southwest to hunt, as if there are no forests before you get to Ondo State,” he lamented.

Despite these efforts, Adeleye admitted that the Amotekun Corps still faces serious challenges, particularly in terms of equipment and logistics.