Akinlalu killings: Police storm Amotekun headquarters, takes over detained suspects

•You lack power to shut Amotekun operations – Osun lawmakers
•I won’t allow unprovoked killings of my people – Senator Fadahunsi
•Adeleke commends the Police investigation

By Shina Abubakar, Osogbo

Operatives of the Intelligence Response Team of the Nigerian Police at the weekend stormed Osun Amotekun Corps headquarters in Osogbo, interrogating suspects illegally detained by the corps.

The investigating team was deployed by the Inspector-General of Police following a petition against the Amotekun Corps alleging extra-judicial killings at Akinlalu town, in Ife-North Local Government Area of the state.

It will be recalled that Amotekun operatives killed four persons and wounded eight others after storming Akinlalu town allegedly to recover locally-fabricated weapons collected by a suspect which attracted public outcry in the state.

The IGP-IRT team led by its Commander, SP Rotimi Ogunmuyiwa was accompanied to the Amotekun headquarters at Power line area by Deputy Commissioner of Police, Criminal Investigation Department, CID, Bayonle Ogunmuyiwa where the suspects were interrogated.

Two of the suspects, claimed to have been detained for five weeks for dealing in Indian hemp worth N25,000. A herdsman claimed to have been detained for six days without knowing his offence while another man said he was detained for stealing oil in Ilesa.

The team then told Amotekun officers to ensure that the suspects were handed over to the nearest Divisional Police Officer. Bayonle disclosed the offences of the suspects were bailable and they should not be behind bars for more than 24 hours.

Meanwhile, Osun State House of Assembly berated the police for sealing Amotekun operations, describing the move as not just illegal but politically motivated by Senator Francis Fadahunsi of Osun-East Senatorial District.

The Speaker, Mr Wale Egbedun while speaking with newsmen on Friday said the sealing off of Amotekun operation by the police was offensive and illegal.

His words, “The House is equally disturbed by credible reports linking this action to political interference. The Amotekun Corps remains a lawfully established and functional agency of the Osun State Government and no individual, political actor or security institution possesses the constitutional authority to shut it down without a legislative revocation.

“The House condemns in the strongest terms the unlawful sealing of the Amotekun Corps operational offices and demands its immediate unsealing to allow the Corps resume its statutory responsibilities without disruption”.

Reacting, Senator Fadahunsi affirmed that he invited police to investigate the activities of Amotekun, having lost indigenes and residents of the district to the nefarious activities of the corps since February this year. He said the corps has constituted itself into a nuisance rather than protecting the territorial integrity of the state from aggression which it was created to do.

“The Amotekun are supposed to protect the territorial integrity of the state not to start terrorising. Even in my own town, Amotekun arrested someone over a land case. Can they do that in Ede?

“I am the Senator of Ife/Ijesa senatorial district, and this is not about the APC or PDP. From February to date, I’ve lost 12 people to Amotekun’s killing.

“I was the one who invited the police, as I can’t continue to let them kill my people. During the crisis that occurred at the local government election, I lost four people. Many are still roaming about with bullets in their body. Nobody has been arrested. Do they expect me to keep quiet as the Senator representing the district? I will not keep quiet. They would not kill a single goat in my area again. If they send them to go and destabilize my own Senatorial District, I will not allow it”, he said.

However, Governor Ademola Adeleke in a statement issued by his spokesperson Olawale Rasheed on Friday commended the Inspector General of Police Kayode Egbetokun for investigative steps taken so far. The Governor urged the police to follow rule of law in the process with a view to protecting those innocent while fishing out those culpable.

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