Operatives of the Ondo State Security Network Agency (Amotekun corps) have arrested a 54-year-old suspected kidnapper, Usman Garuba. He was apprehended in his hideout, alongside five members of his gang, at the Ala Dada/Ago Oyinbo axis of Akure.

Amotekun commander, Adetunji Adeleye, while parading the suspect and 61 other alleged criminals at the corps’ headquarters, said Garuba had kidnapped nine persons and collected ransom from their families.

In the lead up to his arrest, he was said to have raided and razed a community in the North Senatorial District of the state. Adeleye said when villagers in one of the communities along his axis of operation resisted him, Garuba returned at midnight with his gang, burnt their homes, and fled.

Men of the corps acting on a tip-off, however, stormed his hideout and arrested him and the five accomplices. Items recovered from them include guns, bullets, cash believed to be ransom, and food items.

After they were profiled, it was discovered that Garuba and two other members of the gang had been convicted and jailed twice for different crimes.