A crime suspect, Michael Ojo, has said he remains interested in stealing motorcycles because they are more expensive and easy to steal than other means of transport.
Ojo, who further informed that he has lost count of motorcycles stolen since he began the business, noted that the high profit he made each time he stole motorcycles made him remain in the business.
The suspect and 26 other suspected criminals were paraded by the Ondo State Security Network codename Amotekun for stealing, armed robbery, violation of anti-grazing law, and stealing.
Addressing journalists during the parade, the Commander of Amotekun, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye, said 27 suspected criminals who engaged in various security breaches across the state were arrested within and outside the state in collaboration with other sister security agencies.
According to Adeleye, four kidnapped suspects are going through interrogation and, if found guilty, would be charged in court.
The Amotekun boss said, ” You will recall that the last parade we did, we arrested one of the significant members of a syndicate that specializes in killing Okada riders, robbing them, and some of them were at large. We went as far as Kogi and Edo before we could track and arrest Michael Ojo, who was on the parade.
“He has confessed to stealing so many motorcycles. He said he lost count of them, dispossessed them, dismantled them, and took them out of the state as in pieces. According to him, he has been engaging in it for the last five years, but in the last year, he intensified it because there is now pressure on Okada, and it’s now more expensive. So, he said that’s why he engages in such trade. He operates in Akure and moves to either Uso or Ogbese. He sells the bikes for N30,000, N50,000.
“We also have Oladimeji and Imole; they only steal where you park your motorcycles. We have Usman Shehu, Ojo, Temidayo, and Pelemo. Four of them were the people who had been joining their colleagues in kidnapping activities around Ikakumo-Akoko. We have four of them here.
“So, we went after them, retrieved them from those that bought them, because a mattress that would normally go for N100,000 is being sold for N10,000, for 5,000. So, somebody should know that it is stolen material.
“We have about five of them that stole household equipment and foodstuffs, probably because of the economic situation. We would handle them using the alternative dispute resolution method, the ones we can retrieve, we return it to the owner.
“The Amotekun Rangers that was launched has been yielding a lot of dividends. For instance, it is the activity of the Amotekun Rangers that yielded all these criminals that we picked in the border towns between Edo and Kogi. And because they are domiciled right in the forests there, it’s easy for them to go after. And right now, as we talk, they are in the extreme end of Ose and Akoko, where there are security breaches right now.”
