The Osun State House of Assembly has called for the immediate reopening of Amotekun Corps offices that were reportedly sealed by police officers investigating the alleged killing of residents in the Akinlalu community.
It was gathered that the police operatives from the Intelligence Response Team, under the office of the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, sealed the Amotekun operational bases in Osogbo and Ife Central Local Government Area. The action followed public complaints after some residents of Akinlalu were allegedly killed by Amotekun operatives.
According to reports, about 20 members of the Osun Amotekun Corps were arrested on Wednesday in connection with the killings that took place in the community last week Tuesday. The arrests were made at the Oke Fia operational base in Osogbo and the Ife Central Division in Ile-Ife.
A woman identified as Fausat Oyebamiji, who lost two stepchildren during the incident, had narrated how Amotekun officers shot them dead during the unrest in Akinlalu.
Sources disclosed that after the arrests, the police sealed off the two Amotekun facilities. However, the Corps’ state headquarters at Powerline, Osogbo, was not affected.
Confirming the development, the spokesperson for the Osun Amotekun Corps, Yusuf Idowu, stated that some operatives were indeed arrested in connection with the Akinlalu incident. Meanwhile, the Osun State Police Command said that only five Amotekun personnel were in custody.
In a statement issued by the Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Ojelabi, the police noted that the Inspector-General had taken over the investigation. Ojelabi added that the Amotekun Commander, Adekunle Omoyele, was invited for questioning but failed to appear.
“Efforts to reach him on the phone were unsuccessful as his number was switched off. He later claimed on social media that he was attacked by masked gunmen, but our preliminary findings show that the claim was false and meant to mislead the public. Investigation has revealed that the attackers were members of the Amotekun Corps. Five suspects have been arrested so far, while others are still being tracked,” the statement read.
Speaking with journalists in Osogbo on Friday, Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Adewale Egbedun, said Amotekun was a legally established security outfit and that the police had no right to stop its operations.
Egbedun alleged that information before the Assembly linked the senator representing Osun East, Adenigba Fadahunsi, to the involvement of police officers from the Inspector-General’s office in the arrest of the Amotekun operatives.
He said, “The House sympathises with the families affected by the incident in Akinlalu. While we do not support any form of misconduct by security officers, investigations must be transparent and fair. Such incidents should not be used as an excuse to undermine a state-established security agency.
“The Amotekun Corps was created by law, and no person or institution has the authority to suspend its operations without a legislative process. The Assembly strongly condemns the unlawful sealing of its offices and demands that they be reopened immediately.”
Okay News reports that Senator Fadahunsi, when contacted, confirmed he invited the police to intervene. He advised the House of Assembly to be cautious in defending Amotekun, saying that the law does not protect anyone found guilty of violating the Constitution.
The senator, who said the victims were from his constituency, accused Amotekun officers of turning their offices into “centres of violence.”
“The Osun Amotekun office has become a place for killers instead of protectors. They have been harassing residents instead of maintaining peace. Even in my town, Ilase-Ijesa, they arrested someone over a land issue. Is that their duty?” Fadahunsi asked.
He continued, “Since February, about 12 people from my district have died because of Amotekun. During the local government election crisis, I lost four people. Others are still walking around with bullets in their bodies. After causing chaos in Ijesa South and North, they went to Ife and killed people in Akinlalu. I will not allow it anymore.”
Meanwhile, police sources said the IGP’s investigation team later removed four detainees found at the Osun Amotekun headquarters in Osogbo and transferred them to the divisional police stations in the areas where their alleged crimes were committed.
The team, led by SP Rotimi Ogunmuyiwa, alongside the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Criminal Investigation Department, Bayonle Sulaiman, visited the base on Thursday evening. They requested to meet the heads of Amotekun’s anti-cultism, narcotics, kidnapping, and homicide units, but none were available.
During the inspection, the officers evacuated the four suspects. Two were accused of selling Indian hemp and said they had been held for over five weeks. Another said he was detained for four days for stealing engine oil, while a Fulani herder claimed he had been in custody for six days after being arrested for open grazing.
