Amidst the recent herders/farmers clashes across Ondo State, Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, on Tuesday, directed the state security outfit, Amotekun, to establish forest rangers to end killings, abductions and other crimes in communities.
Many farmers were abducted, and murdered in some communities in the state last month.
Consequently, farmers have abandoned their farmlands while women in some affected communities have protested half-naked to show their displeasure over the resurgence of crimes.
Addressing newsmen in Akure, the Commander of Amotekun, Chief Adetunji Adeleye, said that the governor has ordered the setting up of Amotekun rangers to end incessant killings of farmers by suspected herdsmen as well as prevent kidnapping at border towns and roads in the state.
Adeleye said: “The establishment of the specialised unit within the Amotekun Corps called Amot Rangers will rid the coastal state of criminal elements.
“These rangers will operate from six newly established control points within the state’s forests which will cover areas along the borders with Edo, Kogi, Kwara, and Ekiti states and will live and stay in the forests to control the excesses of miscreants causing trouble in the state.
“Given Mr Governor’s directives, we are establishing six major control points for a special unit of the Amotekun corps that is coded Amot Rangers.
“These six control points cut across the troubled borders around Edo, Kogi, Kwara, and Ekiti states. In the last 72 hours, men of the Ondo State Security Network have combed every nook and cranny of the four local governments in Akoko, and we’ve been able to flush out the miscreants.
“They (miscreants) even ran away before our men got there. This is to tell them that Ondo State is not a place for terrorists and people with bad intentions to stay.
“Hence, the Governor has graciously approved that two of the existing control posts in the forest be further reinforced, while an additional four, making a total of six, will be put in place”.
