Oyo Amotekun confirms killing of three attackers

Makinde tasks residents on information to tackle insecurity

Commandant of Oyo State Security Network Agency, Operation Amotekun, Col. Olayinka Olayanju (rtd.), has confirmed the death of three aggressors who challenged operatives of the agency in Ibarapa area of the state.

He denied that his men clashed with Fulani herdsmen in Ibarapa land and Oke Ogun axes. Addressing journalists in Ibadan yesterday, Olayanju said his men launched six operations in four councils, but that the team in Aiyete was attacked inside the forest by suspected bandits, three of whom were killed by his men.

According to him, the operations were fully supported by Fulani leaders living in the areas, including a number of Miyetti Allah who was part of the operation.

A statement by the commandant to newsmen indicated that Amotekun operatives raided the forests of Ibarapa and Oke-Ogun on Saturday to smoke out kidnappers and other criminal elements.

Olayanju, who equally paraded one of the suspected kidnap kingpins, Sanni Bello, said he was arrested in the forests around Aiyegun in Iwajowa Council, adding that the security outfit worked closely with officials of Miyetti Allah, whose family members had equally been kidnapped recently.

“We launched clearance operations in different locations around the thick forests of the four councils that have suffered kidnapping and wanton killings in recent times.

“When our men entered the forests at Aiyede, they were attacked, leading to a gun battle where three of the attackers died. One of our men sustained injury,” he stated.

MEANWHLE, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has tasked residents to use their areas of influence to support the government in the fight against insecurity.

Makinde, during the commemoration of the Armed Forces Remembrance Day at the Cathedral of St. Peter, Aremo, Ibadan, yesterday, charged the people to make information in their domains available to help government arrest the security situation in the state.

Represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mrs. Olubamiwo Adeosun, the governor also harped on the need to sustain the fight against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) by complying with the safety protocols.

Earlier in his sermon themed ‘Lack of Patriotism, the Bane of Nigerian Development’, Provost of the Cathedral, Very Rev. Wale Adebiyi, maintained that “until Nigerians become more patriotic to the country than their regions, development will remain a challenge for the country.”

He said the day was moved from July 6 to January 13 to commemorate the end of the civil war and appreciate the Biafran troops and Nigerian military that kept Nigeria as one.