By Ologeh Joseph Chibu
The Amotekun Corps has intensified its efforts to combat terrorism, banditry and other criminal activities in the South-West region.
In this light, 2,000 personnel are to be deployed to comb forests across the region.
In Ekiti, hundreds of Amotekun members are expected to be drafted into the forests including the Northern part of the State where kidnapping is rampant though has subsided in the past one and half years.
The Osun State Amotekun Corps Commander, Adekunle Omoyele in a chat with The Punch revealed that the organisation plans to recruit an additional 1,000 operatives to strengthen its current force of 320 personnel. Omoyele commended the state government for empowering the corps to prosecute offenders and emphasized the need for operatives to bear sophisticated weapons.
Commander Adekunle stated, “Our current strength is over 1,000 and the governor on Saturday has also given a directive that an additional 1,000 officers should be recruited.”
Corps personnel should be allowed to bear sophisticated weapons, “since those criminals they would be contending with are also carrying dangerous arms.” he said. He added that the recruitment process would commence soon, with new recruits undergoing rigorous training and being placed on civil service salary scales.
“We currently have 320 personnel but we plan to recruit 1,000 more. The process will commence soon. Our men will soon go for training and be properly placed to earn salaries, according to the civil service scale.”
“We are interested in carrying sophisticated arms. The government should come up with a law that will grant us that opportunity,” Omoyele further emphasized.
Similarly, Oyo State Amotekun Commandant, Col. Olayinka Olayanju (retd.), highlighted that the state had recruited, trained, and deployed 480 forest rangers in October 2023 as part of ongoing security efforts.
This development follows a directive from the Osun State Governor to bolster the corps’ manpower, bringing the total number of personnel to over 2,000 across the region.
Amotekun Corps continues to seek legislative backing for its operatives to carry advanced weaponry, aligning its resources with the security challenges posed by heavily armed criminals in the region.
