45 northern youths who were arrested in Okitipupa LGA of Ondo state on Thursday April 29, will now be returned to their states safely by the state government.
Adetunji Adeleye, Amotekun commander in the state said the youths from Kano and Jigawa states had arrived the LGA in a truck and claimed they were in the town to undergo military training in the barracks to be security guards.
Adeleye said an investigation revealed they were brought to the town for employment by a non-profit organisation.
He said;
“The mission that they claimed they came for, we found out that it was not too clear and upon profiling, we found out that majority of them do not know how they got to where they got to; all they were told was that they were going for training.
“From detailed investigation, we were able to narrow it down to the sponsors and they also claimed to belong to an NGO. Right now, we look at them as a security risk to the state.”
Donald Ojogohe, Ondo commissioner for information and orientation told newsmen that the incident would have degenerated into jungle justice if the security agents had not handled it professionally.
Ojogohe said;
“The security situation we found ourselves in the last 72 hours was a very precarious one. If not that it was discretely and professionally handled and well managed by officials of government, particularly Amotekun Commander and SSA on security, the situation would have degenerated to the extent of lynching and jungle justice
“What government is trying to do today is to ensure that the way they came to the state, they will leave the state safely, peacefully and unhurt, so that when they get to their various states, they will also testify to their state government and their people that the movement that brought them to Ondo state was an unclear one and the state government had to protect them and move them back to their state.
“I have the instructions and the directive of Mr Governor to use this medium inform everybody, particularly, government officials, that any security situation we found ourselves, the first point of contact must be security agencies.”
