Men of the Ondo State Security Network, Amotekun have arrested seven members of a nuclear family who specialise in breaking into shops and houses and stealing food items.
The suspects who included the father, mother and their five children were apprehended for allegedly stealing bags of rice from an orphanage around Shagari village in Akure South Local Government Area of the state, reports Nigerian Tribune.
The suspects include, John Avor, (42), and his wife, Mary Avor,(38), were apprehended for allegedly stealing bags of rice from an orphanage at Shagari Village in Akure.
They were said to have incorporated their five sons into the illegal enterprise with three of the children who are still underaged and were not paraded.
Speaking on their arrest, the father, John, a gateman at the orphanage, confessed to the offense, claiming the stealing was carried out with the assistance of the children at the orphanage, who urged him to steal the rice with the condition that he would give them money.
The Amotekun Commander, Chief Adetunji Adeleye, who has just been reappointed by Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, explained that John Avor was arrested with his wife and five children when investigations revealed that they were all involved in the stealing of bags of rice from an orphanage.
He disclosed that the shop of a pensioner filled with bags of rice was emptied overnight in the same Estate recently.
He said: “We have a family that specializes in breaking into houses comprising of the husband, the wife, and the children. Family of robbers.
“We equally have three minors, which belong to a family. For obvious reasons, we are not going to parade the minors. They are aged between 12 and 15.
“We are parading the father, mother and two boys among the five children because two of them are minors. They stole the bags of rice from an orphanage at Shagari Village in Akure.”
Adeleye who disclosed that about 68 crime suspects were arrested, but only 20 were paraded, reiterated the Command resolve to flush out criminal elements from the state.
He disclosed that the Amotekun Rangers, a unit of the formation that specialises in keeping surveillance on the forest reserves in the state, have combed the Elegbeka forest notorious for kidnapping.
According to him, five kidnap attempts were foiled and nine abductees were rescued while one kidnap suspect was arrested by the Amotekun Rangers while other members of the gang are at large.
He said the kidnap suspect has confessed to the crime, admitting that he and two other persons at large have concluded with the family of their abductee to collect N2 million.
Akogun Adeleye said: “The kidnap suspect we have is a 28-year-old Usman Abubakar that was arrested in Igbo Oba, Owo.
“He confirmed collecting N2 million from the suspect, and he told us how they shared it, and he told us how to get to the root of their godfathers.
“The Amotekun Rangers launched by Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa recently had penetrated the forest, and substantially within the week under review, we were able to resist five kidnapping attempts. We were able to rescue nine victims. That is to say that the kidnap attempt failed.
“The notorious portion of Elegbeka had been bombarded, and we are glad to say that the Amotekun rangers had infiltrated the entire forest around Elegbeka to guarantee the safety of commuters’ lives and the property of the people of the area.
“In the next few weeks, we are going to dominate Ala, Ago-Oyibo, Ogbese, Jugbere and other forests.”
However, Adeleye assured the people of the state and investors of safe environment for life and property.
He cautioned that people should not buy secondhand items without asking for genuine receipts.
“I want to place it on record that Ondo State is very, very safe to commuters, to indigenes and people doing genuine businesses.
He warned “Please don’t buy second-hand products without collecting the original verifiable receipt of purchase. As a result of the downturn of the economy, a lot of economic breaches are taking place. Please, don’t fall prey to these criminals.”
