BY SEYIFUNMI LUMEKO
Herdsmen have on Wednesday launched a surprise attack on Amotekun, the Ondo State Security Network Agency and sacked some farmers at Osi Community, in Akure, Ondo State.
Amotekun stormed the area when they got a distress call from the farmers that cows had destroyed their farms.
Chief Adetunji Adeleye, the state Commander of Amotekun, said one of the herdsmen was arrested with dangerous weapons while 16 cows were seized by the operatives.
His words: “Some farmers from Osi Community ran to the office complaining that their farms had been destroyed by herdsmen.
”We sent our men there to assess the situation. They found out that the herds were actually on the farm and we invited the herdsmen.
”But unfortunately, on getting there, they attacked our men with knives and other dangerous weapons. But we were able to arrest one of them, named Abdulkadir Mohammed.
“One Alhaji Ilyasu, a Fulani man came to us that some people came with a Serena Bus to steal their cattle. They came to us and we sent our men out. We were able to recover the vehicle they wanted to use in stealing the cows, we also recovered the cows.
“We were able to trace some of the rustlers that ran away to somewhere in Ogun State. We have apprehended one Sudauna Gombe and one Ogunyale Sola, who was the driver of the abandoned Serena. We have handed them over to the Agro Department of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps for detailed investigation.”
“We recovered two cows, which we have returned to the Fulani man that owns them, and we brought the vehicle to our office here because the rustlers ran away and abandoned the vehicle. But we were able to arrest those involved and they had confessed that they had been in the trade for some time.”
He, however, disclosed that over 100 suspects had been arrested by Amotekun in the state since it started its operations.
