The Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN) otherwise known as Amotekun, has placed its operatives on yellow alert following an alarm raised by the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams.
Adams, in a statement he signed and made available to the media through his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Aderemi, disclosed that terrorists were in-between Osu forest and Ile Ife, in Osun State, and the forests between Abeokuta and Ibadan.
While advising the governors in the Southwest to hold an emergency security meeting with stakeholders across the region to forestall the calamity, Adams also charged the governors to recruit at least 150 local security personnel in each local government to protect the communities.
Reacting to the development, the Commander of WNSN, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye, who confirmed the development, vowed that the corps would not allow criminals to use the southwest forests as an abode to commit any crime in the region. Adeleye noted that Amotekun also “noticed strange people around the southwest in recent times, especially in the forest surrounding the southwest and inside the southwest.”
Adeleye who is Special Adviser to Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, informed me that immediately they noticed the large movement of strange people, the council of Amotekun commanders met and mapped out “strategies to contain the excesses of these marauders”.
Adeleye vowed that the corps would not give room for the influx of terrorists from any part of the country to the Southwest. He maintained that the Western Nigerian states would remain uncomfortable for criminals. “As we speak, all Amotekun formations are on yellow alert and we are putting all that we have, both spiritually and otherwise in place.”
Adeleye adds that in all the border towns, persons coming in and going out were under serious surveillance, to ensure that there was absolutely no breach of peace in the southwest states.
“The Council of Amotekun commanders met and mapped out strategies to contain the excesses of these marauders.
“We are putting all that we have both spiritually and otherwise in place in collaboration with Army, Police, Civil Defence and DSS to ensure that they don’t have the field to observe the southwest.
“You will observe in Ondo State for instance that in the last two months, we’ve engaged in joint massive clearance operations with Army and Amotekun in all the local government areas of the state.
“I want to believe that since it was a joint decision that we should collaborate with other agencies, the same thing is happening in all the southwest states. I can tell you that we are not sleeping about the matter at all.
“We are already combing all the forest and clean-up operation is currently ongoing,” he said.