Kwara Killings: Lift Ban on Amotekun to Combat Spread of Banditry to Osun, Adeleke Tells Police

Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo

Osun State Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke, has raised the alarm about the possible spread of banditry from Kwara State into the state, urging the police to immediately lift the ban on Amotekun operations to combat emerging threats.

Responding to another recorded incident of kidnapping at Ora Igbomina area of the state, the governor said the state was handicapped in its security response as the Amotekun service has remained banned by the police, with its top officers in detention without trial for several months.

The governor stated that the Amotekun service had developed the expertise to contain criminality, especially in the rural border areas, and insisted that the police’s shutdown of Amotekun’s operations had created a significant gap being exploited by bandits and criminals.

Adeleke, who called on the Inspector General (IG) of Police to charge those detained in court and lift the ban on the service, stated that further delay may endanger the rural population and open the state to further criminal infiltration.

“I am taking this matter to the public domain in view of another kidnapping at Ora Igbomina. Disbanding Amotekun exposes the Osun people to significant risks. I call on the Inspector General of Police to unseal Amotekun and allow its operatives to secure my people across the grassroots.

“Those officers in detention should be charged in court after several months of incarceration. Any further delay in the unsealing of Amotekun will further jeopardise the safety and security of our people,” the governor was quoted as saying after a closed-door security meeting.