BY SEYIFUNMI LUMEKO
No fewer than forty-five, 45 Fulanis have been arrested by Amotekun Corps in front of the Okitipupa Army Barracks at the Okitipupa Local Government Area in Ondo State. The arrested northerners allegedly confessed to have been sent down to the army barrack to get some military training.
Mr Tee-Leo Ikoro, the Public Relations Officer of the state police command, also confirmed the incident, saying the suspects had been handed over to the Amotekun Corps.
“The men are mostly northerners who said they wanted to undergo military training in the barracks to be security guards but the commander did not allow them because he did not have a signal to that effect. But since there was no place to keep them in Okitipupa, they have been handed over to Amotekun,” Ikoro said.
The development had since brought fears in the Ikale land of Ondo State as not all the Fulani youths who were conveyed in the trailer got arrested by the State arm of the Amotekun Corps because some of the Fulanis eventually escaped left with just 45 of them.
However, the 45 suspected Fulani youths who were intercepted at 10;20 pm have been taken to Akure, the Ondo State capital for further interrogations.
It was gathered that many residents of the town, who gathered at the scene, expressed apprehension that the northern youths were in the town to cause havoc.
An indigene of Ikale who spoke to TheCheer News on condition of anonymity said the information was true but added that their mission in the land was not clear.
According to him, an indigene from Erinje, a town from the Okitipupa local government area brought them to the town.
He said: ”It was true that many northerners who were brought in by a truck on Thursday to Okitipupa were arrested by the Ondo State Amotekun Corps in the land.
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”About forty-five of them were arrested while others escaped into unknown destinations in the town. The forty-five said they came for military training at the Okitipupa Army Barracks. ” A further finding of the presence of the Fulani youths revealed that they came by the invitation of an indigene of the land. ”The man who brought them claimed he brought them to cultivate some piece of land for agricultural purpose in the land. ”That’s all I can gather from the incident.”
Confirming the arrest of the youths, the Ondo State Commander of the corps, Chief Adetunji Adeleye, said it’s true adding that the investigation had commenced.
On his part, the chairman, Okitipupa Local Government Area, Mr Igbekele Akinrinwa, while addressing the crowd at the scene of the incident, said it was an indigene of the town that had facilitated the travellers trip to the town. ”The person had also been apprehended by the state chapter of Amotekun,” he said.
