Some of the suspects. Photo credit: The Punch

One Igbekele Abiodun was among 75 criminals paraded on Thursday, in Akure, the Ondo State capital, by operatives of Western Nigeria Security Network, otherwise known as Amotekun. The suspect who was arrested while dressed as a woman, had participated in the abduction of four worshippers from a vigil in Akure on Wednesday.

Commander of the Amotekun Corps, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye, disclosed this while parading some of the suspects at the headquarters of the security outfit in Agbakoba, Akure. He said the 75 suspects were involved in various criminal activities including, armed robbery, kidnapping, car stealing, phone stealing, ritual activities among others.

According to a report by The Punch, Adeleye said the suspects stormed the church at about 11 pm on Wednesday while the vigil was ongoing. They abducted four members of the church, located in the Edo Lodge area of Akure, the state capital.
He said, “At about 11 pm, we received a distressed call that some hoodlums kidnapped the worshippers who were in their church for service. It was one of them (Igbekele Abiodun) that first entered the church and asked the worshippers to stand up before the other members of the gang entered. They abducted four female members of the church and molested them.
“Our men immediately swung into action and we were able to rescue the victims and arrested one of the suspects (Igbekele Abiodun). Our men are still on the trail of the remaining suspects. We have brought the victims to our office and we have given them medical treatment,” he said.

Adeleye stated that the victims were rescued inside a forest in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State around 1.30 am on Thursday, adding that the arrested suspect was dressed as a woman when he was arrested.
One of the rescued victims, Mrs Eunice Taiwo said the bandits collected their money and phones while kidnapping them. She expressed appreciation to the Amotekun Corps for the efforts made to rescue them.
The Amotekun commander, who noted that the corps had arrested 75 suspected criminals with two weeks, said the corps had commenced their prosecution.