Men of the Ondo State Security Network Agency known as Amotekun on Friday, intercepted a bus loaded with over 500 pieces of daggers concealed under the seats of the vehicle.
Apart from this, the state security outfit also seized some guns and knives concealed inside a sack filled with tiger nuts while all the 18 occupants of the vehicle were arrested.
The arrest of the suspected criminals was coming a few days after soldiers from the 32 Artillery Brigade, Akure withdrew from checkpoints and interstate boundaries across the state.
Speaking on their arrest, the State Commander of Amotekun Corps, Chief Adetunji Adeleye, disclosed that the men who were travelling in three vehicles escaped from all the various checkpoints mounted across the state.
He said the action of the drivers of the bus at the various checkpoints necessitated the suspicion and the officials of the Amotekun decided to chase them, saying there was an intelligent report about the invasion of some criminals into the state.
According to him, the suspects who claimed to have taken off from Kastina State in three 18- seater passenger buses before arriving in the state on Thursday, failed to stop at every checkpoint within the state.
He disclosed that two other buses that the suspects were travelling with escaped arrest as they drove dangerously over all the barricades mounted at the checkpoints but said it took the efforts of the gallant officers and other security operatives in the state to arrest one of the buses.
Adeleye said “We got intelligence that a group of men are coming to invade the state, so we set out our monitoring devices. And precisely at about 1:30 am Thursday we saw three hummer buses that we had actually been trailing till they entered the state.
“They had a brief stop just before they entered the town and our men tried to stop them, but the three buses escaped, so we had to radio all our control points and we were able to bring the three buses to a stop at a point on Ondo road by a combined team of police and civil defence.
“The buses attempted to overrun the security agents and speed off. The speed was too much that they hit all the barricades on the road and they took off again.
“We found out that it was difficult pursuing them in order not to cause an accident, so we radio our station on Owena, and the security men on Owena blocked the road for all vehicles.
“But they were able to escape by hitting the barricades again. We continued in pursuing them while we called the Ile-Oluji junction that they should block the road solidly but the drivers again also escaped.
“But we later organised a complete blockage before the Akure garage in Ondo town and we were able to apprehend them.
“They claimed to be coming to Akure and the driver said somebody commissioned them from Katstina state but that he doesn’t know the content of the bag filled with tiger nuts.
“On opening the bags we found some guns, rounds of ammunition and also found under the seat about 500 different types and sizes of the dagger and poisonous jack knives cleverly concealed under the seats.
“When we asked them what they intended to do, they told us that they were just given instructions to go and that further instructions will be given to them”
Adeleye however, maintained that the two other buses that escaped would be arrested by the security operatives in the state and said the arrested suspects would be charged to court as soon investigations are concluded.
Meanwhile, the leader of Hausa Community in the state, Bala Umaru and Usman Bello, Chairman Miyetti Allah commended Amotekun for the prompt arrest, sustaining the two communities from the invadion.
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