Few days after Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State signed the Anti-open grazing bill into law, operatives of the state Security Network Agency, better known as Amotekun, have arrested three herdsmen and 40 cows for allegedly destroying some farmlands in Owode community, Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State.
The state commander of the corps, Chief Adetunji Adeleye, disclosed this while speaking with newsmen in Akure, the state capital on Friday.
Adeleye said, “We got distress calls from farmers and residents of Owode, a community very close to the Akure Airport that cows are persistently destroying their farmlands.
“We went there thrice to educate them on how to do their businesses without destroying other peoples’ farmlands. It got to a time when there was a threat and a new dimension to it which got us into action. The cows have been impounded, while three herders were apprehended as investigation is still ongoing.”
The commander, who organised a show of force for the men of the corps in Akure on Thursday, assured citizens of the state of their safety, reiterating that there will be no hiding place for criminals.
He explained that the parade was to reassure them of the security agency’s readiness to take on hoodlums and other criminal elements ahead of the ’ember months’ period, saying the exercise was not meant to intimidate law-abiding citizens.
The commander appealed to residents of the state to provide credible and factual information about criminals and their activities in their various environments.
