Crime
Kidnappings: Police, Amotekun comb South-West forests, 48 arrested
Following the increasing rate of kidnapping in the country, with the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway becoming a major flashpoint in the South-West, the police and the Amotekun Corps have announced major operations to flush out kidnappers and other criminals from forests and other strategic locations in the region.
The security agencies vowed to leave no stone unturned in ridding the South-West of criminality.
Independent of abductions in the different states in the region, there have in recent weeks been a series of kidnappings and attacks on the busy highway that connects Oyo and Ogun states with Lagos, with the latest incidents recorded on Tuesday and Wednesday.
On Wednesday, gunmen emerged from the bush and attacked travellers, dispossessing them of their valuables in the process before they fled back into the forest.
Earlier on Tuesday, a Lagos-bound 18-passenger bus was attacked close to the Sagamu interchange. The incident left some passengers with varying degrees of injury.
About a week earlier, some travellers, including a former Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Prof Adigun Agbaje, and a student of the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, Ogun State, were abducted close to the Sat Guru Maharaji Garden in Ibadan, Oyo State capital. They were not released until their relatives paid ransom to the kidnappers.
In their response to the rising attacks, the various security outfits said they were making efforts to address insecurity in the region.
In Ekiti State, the Police Public Relations Officer, Sunday Abutu, said law enforcement agents had in the last two weeks been combing the forests with a view to ridding them of criminals.
He stated, “For over two weeks now, policemen have been combing the forests in the state. It is ongoing and it will continue so as to ensure that criminal elements do not infiltrate the state or our forests.
“As I speak with you, our men are combing the forests and ensuring that the criminal elements are possibly arrested or chased out of the state. We have made some breakthroughs.”
The PPRO noted that no fewer than 10 suspects were arrested by the police during the exercise, addsing, “Some suspected kidnappers and criminals have been arrested and investigations are ongoing. No fewer than 10 suspects have been arrested.”
Similarly, the Amotekun Commandant in the state, Brig. Gen. Joe Komolafe (retd.), said officers and men of the corps were embarking on constant monitoring of the forests as well carrying out special operations to flush out criminal elements.
He said, “We go on regular patrols. At times, we go with other security agencies and sometimes we go alone. We will be proactive and not reactive. We are also collaborating with the locals, hunters, traditional rulers and other vigilance groups, because they may see these people before we see them. We have friends and colleagues among them, so collaborating with them will give us early warning.
“What we are trying to do is to reduce criminality to the barest minimum. Don’t forget that there is no fence that separates forests in Ekiti State from those in the neighbouring states. We are also patrolling the forests to ensure they do not come back and see to it that others do not infiltrate through the boundaries.”
The spokesman for the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in the state, Tolu Afolabi, said apart from the activities of the Agro Rangers Unit, the corps was working in synergy with hunters, Amotekun and other security agencies to make sure that forests in the state and those in adjoining states were well secured.
He added, “We have been doing this for a very long time and it has been yielding good results. Ekiti State has expansive forests bordering other states and our agro rangers are always there on patrol and surveillance, combing the forests to make them uninhabitable for the men of the underworld, including kidnappers.
“Recently we combed the forests from Ikere-Ekiti to Ise-Ekiti and to Ijan-Ekiti, routing the criminals and we are doing that on a routine basis, making sure the places are not habitable for kidnappers and armed robbers.”
While admitting increased presence of security agents in the area lately, a resident of Ijan-Ekiti, Daniel Ojo, said more still needed to be done to secure the area, adding that they should be thorough in flushing out squatters from the forests.
A farmer in Ikere-Ekiti, Debo Fashikun, said he had not noticed additional security agents in the area except the regular patrol teams of the police and Amotekun, but conceded that forests were wide and that they might be in some other locations.
Meanwhile, the police in Ondo State said they were making efforts to ensure that bandits did not have their way in the state.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs Funmilayo Odunlami, in an interview with one of our correspondents, said, “We have put our men at strategic places on the highways and the towns. Men of the state Criminal Investigation Department, Safer Highway and Highway Patrol have been deployed across the state.
“We also have secret investigators everywhere. For us in Ondo State, our highways are safe for anybody who wants to travel.”
The Senior Special Assistant to Governor Rotimi Akeredolu on Security Matters, Alhaji Jimoh Dojumo, also said the state government had put all the security agencies on red alert. He explained that criminals would not have their way in the state as measures had been put in place to prevent them from carrying out attacks.
“All hands are on the deck; we are coordinating security properly in Ondo State. The governor has put everybody on red alert. We are not relaxing and there will be no cause for alarm,” he stated.
Some residents of border communities in the state confirmed the presence of Amotekun personnel and other security agents in the areas.
The state police command and the Amotekun had earlier stated that they had increased border patrols to prevent the influx of terrorists and bandits from entering into the South-West through Ondo State.
The traditional ruler of Imoru community in the Ose Local Government Area of the state, which borders Edo State, Oba Rotimi Obamuwagun, confirmed that the issue of insecurity in the area had drastically reduced.
He said, “We have to commend the Amotekun Corps; if not for them, I don’t know what would have become of our community here. I can tell you that we are feeling the impact of the Amotekun people here. The cases of insecurity, particularly, kidnapping, have gone down. Though we have some occasional security challenges; we are better off now than before.
“In recent times, there have been more security agents in our community, especially Amotekun men. I have to commend the governor for the Amotekun initiative. As I am speaking to you, my subjects have started returning to their farms, which they abandoned when the issue of kidnapping was prevalent.”
A community leader in Afin Akoko, Akoko North-West Local Government of the state, Alhaji Ibrahim Kilani, said kidnapping and other forms of banditry in the area had drastically reduced as a result of the presence of more security agents in the area.
Kikani said, “We are seriously relieved. We now see men of Amotekun, the police and other security agencies in our area. The local hunters and villante groups are also helping them . We do have the area commander of the Ikare Area Command, leading the policemen and Amotekun people in the forest. This effort is yielding results, we now sleep and travel in rest of mind in our area here.
The monarch of Auga community in the Akoko North East Local Government Area of the state, Oba Samuel Agunloye, also confirmed the activities of security agents in the border town.
38 criminals arrested
Meanwhile, the Amotekun Corps in the state has arrested no fewer than 38 persons for their involvement in various criminal activities. The suspects were said to have been apprehended in various parts of the state.
Speaking with one of our correspondents on the development, the Commander of the corps, Adetunji Adeleye, said the arrests were part of the ‘Operation Gbale Gbako’ embarked on by Amotekun to rid the state of criminals.
Parading the suspects at the headquarters of the corps in Alagbaka, Akure, the state capital, on Friday, Adeleye said the arrests were as a result of the joint efforts of other security agencies as well as local hunters and the neighbouring states.
“We have collaborated with the other security agencies and the local hunters in Edo and Kogi states, and the collaboration has been successful. We paraded about 38 suspects today (Friday) on our ‘Operation Gbale Gbako’ and we will continue from now till January,” he added.
Rape victim confesses
Meanwhile, one of the suspects, identified simply as Precious, confessed to raping his brother’s wife and nine other women in the Olaosun Farm Settlement in the Ondo West Local Government Area of the state.
The 16-year-old suspect, who was arrested by the men of the corps for stealing 25 litres of palm oil, said his brother travelled when he committed the act.
Precious confessed that he walked into the room where his brother’s wife was sleeping naked and he laid on her to rape her. He also said he had raped nine other girls at the Laosun community.
He said, “I came to the house and saw my brother’s wife sleeping naked. I went into the room and slept on top of her.
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“In Laosun, I raped nine girls. Some of them are 19 and some 25 years. In the night, I would go into their rooms and start sleeping with them. I did not use a gun or knives to threaten them. Sometimes, I would be caught and they would beat me.
“I have been arrested before. I was arrested for stealing 25 litres of palm oil. I did that in order to save money to buy a phone.”
The Amotekun boss stated that the suspects would soon be charged to court.
Osun security arrangement
In Osun State, the Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Funke Egbemode, said the government would scale up its strategies to prevent violent crimes across its territory.
She said, “The Osun State Government has a responsibility to the people. The governor has a mandate and we will deliver on it until the last day of this administration. We will continue to do what needs to be done. We will request help when we need to; we will scale up our interventions at all levels to continue keeping our people safe.”
The spokesperson for the state police command, Yemisi Opalola, said in an interview with Saturday PUNCH that the Commissioner of Police, Sunday Faleye, had posted more men to border communities to ensure adequate protection, especially on highways during the Yuletide.
She noted that the command was collaborating with neighbouring commands to prevent crime.
Opalola added that the command would continue to sensitise the people to the need to be more careful.
By Okey Maduforo Awka
A total of eight suspected fake Pastors were on Friday arraigned before the Awka High Court in Anambra state.
Recall that Governor Charles Soludo had at a church service in Awka announced that some suspected fake Pastors are already under the custody of the state government for activities that are unbecoming of their roles as servants in God’s Vineyard.
Recall also that at the peak of the clampdown on fake Native Doctors, the affected Native Doctors protested that the Anambra state government has been neck deep in selective justice contending that the fake Pastors obtain their powers from Native Doctors.
They queried why their colleagues are being arrested while their clients who are Pastors are left to walk the streets freely.
It was against this backdrop that the Anambra state government beamed it’s searchlight on the activities of some Pastors which led to the arraignment of eight suspected fake Pastors.
It was gathered that the alleged fake pastors violated the 2025 Homeland Security law established by the administration of Prof Charles Soludo.
The Senior Special Assistant to Soludo on New Media Sir Ejimofor Opara who confirmed the development said the Homeland security law was passed in February 2025 and it frowns at certain forms of religious practices that are deemed inimical to the public, especially as it pertains to creation of illegal wealth.
Last year, some native doctors who were promoting get-rich-quick practices (Okeite rituals) were also arrested and prosecuted accordingly with some of them serving jail terms while othere are currently undergoing trial.ls.
The names of those arraigned before the High Court include; Peter Chukwu, Chinedu Egwuonwu, Bishop Emeka Nwankpa, Ebele Nnachukwu and Ekeleme Chris Ugochukwu.
Others are Ndubisi Nnachukwu,
Miracle Iruoma and Chukwukadibia Ogwuama.
The State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Tobechukwu Nweke, SAN, is leading the prosecution.
The Muslim community in Oyo State has condemned the Sharia-related demands reportedly made by terrorists holding teachers and pupils abducted from schools in Oriire Local Government Area, declaring that the criminals do not represent Islam or Muslims.
The position came as public and private schools across Oyo State’s 33 local government areas shut down in solidarity with the abducted victims.
Also, security analysts in separate interviews, offered differing views on how the Federal Government could respond to the terrorists’ demands.
The abductors, who attacked three schools in Esinele, Yawota and Alawusa communities on May 15, reportedly demanded the release of detained terrorist commanders, payment of ransom, two Hilux vehicles and the implementation of Sharia-related law before freeing the captives.
In a statement issued on Friday and jointly signed by its Chairman, Alhaji Ishaq Sanvni, and Secretary-General, Alhaji Murisiku Siyanbade, the Muslim community in Oyo State described the terrorists’ action as criminal and contrary to Islamic teachings.
The group said attempts by the abductors to justify their actions through religious rhetoric amounted to a distortion of Islam.
“Islam forbids kidnapping, terrorism and the extortion of innocent citizens. Legitimate Sharia promotes justice, peace and the sanctity of human life, values that stand in direct opposition to the activities of criminal groups,” the statement said.
The organisation added that terrorists could not claim to speak on behalf of Muslims.
“Terrorists do not represent Islamic values and cannot speak for Muslims,” it stated.
Quoting Chapter 5 Verse 32 of the Holy Qur’an, the community stressed that Islam places a high premium on the protection of human life and urged security agencies to intensify efforts to rescue those in captivity.
The development came amid growing concerns over the fate of the abducted teachers and pupils.
A traditional ruler in one of the affected communities, the Eleshi of Esiele, Oba Tajudeen Abioye, appealed to the government to secure the release of the victims.
“We are aware of the ransom demands of the terrorists, but we are helpless. We are looking up to the government and pleading for intervention,” he said.
Schools shut in 33LGAs
Findings by revealed that the management of private schools issued a statement on Wednesday directing all schools to shut down from Friday, June 5.
One of the internal memos obtained by our correspondent in Ibadan, the state capital, on Wednesday read, “Due to the situation at hand and the ongoing protest in the state, all pupils and students should stay at home until further notice. No school for now until further notice.”
Also, a message circulated to private schools by the Ibadan District Chairman of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools, Joshua Olaoluwa, and obtained by Saturday PUNCH, read, “Good day, all school owners/administrators. Due to the recent kidnapping of teachers and students in Oriire LGA and rising security concerns, all NAPPS member schools in Ibadan District will be closed on Friday, June 5, 2026, as a mark of solidarity and for prayers for the victims’ safe release and the protection of all schools.
“If anyone tries to disrupt school activities before or after Friday, please record a video if it is safe to do so, report to the nearest police station, and inform your NAPPS LGA coordinator and the district office immediately.”
The state Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Fatai Hassan, had earlier disclosed that all public secondary and primary schools would remain closed until the abductees are rescued alive.
Speaking in Ibadan, the chairman of the Parents-Teachers Association of one of the affected schools, who requested anonymity, said, “We had already held a meeting over the closure of the school. You know this is more or less a remote area. It is not that remote, but we cannot compare schools in this environment with those around the Agbowo-UI, Bodija, Sango or Mokola axis.
“But we had to consider those students writing their terminal examinations. Otherwise, we would have joined the public protest since Monday. We eventually shut down the school on Wednesday,” the source said.
It was gathered that the bandits entered the community at about 1am, shooting sporadically to scare residents. They reportedly destroyed two houses before picking up the victim and whisking him away to an unknown destination. The boy, identified as Oluwatobi, is said to be the son of a pastor in the community, Isaac Olaosebikan.
A source said that, on hearing the sporadic gunshots, residents of the community fled their homes and ran to neighbouring communities for safety.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Abayomi, who confirmed the incident in a WhatsApp message, said efforts were ongoing to rescue the victim and apprehend the perpetrators.
He said, “The Ondo State Police Command has commenced an intensive manhunt for suspected kidnappers who abducted a nine-year-old boy during a violent attack on residents of Ugbosi Quarters, Idogun, in Ose Local Government Area of the state.
“The incident was reported in the early hours of Friday, 5th June 2026, at about 2:30 a.m. by Mr. Olaosebikan Isaac and Mr. Joel Owalekan, both residents of Ugbosi Quarters, Idogun. According to their reports, at approximately 1:30 a.m. on the same day, a group of armed men invaded the community, firing gunshots sporadically and causing panic among residents.
He added that personnel of the command and the Amotekun Corps had been mobilised to the scene and had launched a coordinated search-and-rescue operation.
“Security operatives combed the surrounding forests and likely escape routes in a bid to rescue the abducted child and apprehend the perpetrators,” the PPRO stated.
Jimoh also noted that investigations had commenced while relevant exhibits had been recovered and documented to determine the circumstances surrounding the attack and track down those responsible.
“The State Commissioner of Police, Ondo State Command, CP Felix Ohagwu, has directed all tactical teams, intelligence units and other relevant security assets to intensify efforts toward the immediate rescue of the victim unhurt and the arrest of the perpetrators.
“The Command is also working closely with other security agencies and local vigilante groups to ensure that the criminals are brought to justice.”
Ogunleye was arraigned on Wednesday alongside three other suspects before a Chief Magistrate’s Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.
The Ekiti State Police Command said the suspects were brought before the court after the conclusion of investigations into the matter.
The prosecutor, Akinwale Oriyimi, informed the court that the case file had been forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for legal advice.
Oriyimi subsequently requested the court to remand the defendants pending further directives from the DPP.
Ruling on the application, the Chief Magistrate, Abayomi Adeosun, ordered that Ogunleye and the other defendants be remanded at the Ado-Ekiti Correctional Centre pending further proceedings.
Kano Times recalls that Ogunleye was declared missing on May 20 after her vehicle was reportedly found abandoned along the Ipere–Iludun Ekiti Road.
Reports at the time indicated that she was allegedly abducted by suspected gunmen shortly after leaving the local government secretariat.
She was later found unharmed during a joint operation involving security agencies.
However, police investigations later alleged that the kidnapping was staged in a bid to raise money to offset financial obligations and outstanding political commitments.
Reacting to the development, the Chairman of Ilejemeje Local Government Area, Pius Dada, condemned the alleged act.
Dada described the incident as embarrassing and unacceptable, warning that such actions could undermine public confidence in government officials and security agencies.
He further stated that no public office holder would be protected from prosecution if found culpable of any wrongdoing.
The Enugu State Police Command has arrested three suspects linked to alleged armed robbery, kidnapping, and drug trafficking in separate intelligence-led operations across the state.
The Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Daniel Ndukwe, disclosed this in a statement on behalf of the Commissioner of Police, CP Mamman Bitrus Giwa, who reaffirmed the Command’s determination to sustain its crackdown on criminal activities through proactive policing and intelligence-driven operations.
According to the statement, operatives of the Violent Crime Response Unit (VCRU) on May 30, 2026, at about 7:30 p.m., stormed a drinking spot along the Enugu–Port Harcourt Expressway following credible intelligence and arrested two suspected armed robbers and kidnappers identified as Ogbonna Chinonso, 22, and Nnachi Cypril, 35.
Items recovered from the suspects included a locally made revolver pistol, a locally made cut-to-size double-barrelled gun, six rounds of 9mm ammunition, and one live cartridge.
Enugu CP
In a separate operation conducted earlier the same day at about 4:30 p.m., VCRU operatives raided a suspected criminal hideout in Trans-Ekulu, Enugu, where they arrested a suspected drug dealer, Izunna Ani, 36.
The police said large quantities of substances suspected to be “Loud” and “Kolos” were recovered from the suspect.
The Command noted that investigations into the cases are ongoing and that the suspects will be charged to court upon conclusion of the investigations.
Commending the operatives for their professionalism and vigilance, CP Giwa reiterated the Command’s commitment to ridding Enugu State of violent crimes and other forms of criminality. He also urged residents to remain security-conscious and continue providing useful information to assist the police in combating crime.
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