By Michael Ofulue Osogbo
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A 31-year-old suspected kidnapper, Banjo Olaniyi, has been arrested by the Osun State Security Network Agency (Amotekun Corps), for allegedly abducting one Damilare Akinranti, aged 24.
The victim was reported to have been missing for over a period of 11 months as all efforts made by her family to locate her proved abortive.
Both the victim and the suspect hail from Mooro, Ife North Local Government Area of Osun State.
According to a press statement made available by the Osun Amotekun Corps Commander, Brigadier General Bashir Adewinmbi,(Rtd), on Saturday, Akinranti disappeared on November 6, 2022 after the suspect lured him.
According to him, “The suspect was understood to have on that fateful day convinced the victim to follow him to a farm in Iguede, Area 5, a distant farm in that same Local Government Area; only for her to get missing.
“The suspect who lured his victim to a farm in Iguede without her family members knowledge, had since absconded from home, when it was discovered that he took her to a farm in Iguede and did not return with him.”
Knowing the gravity of his offence, the suspect reportedly changed his residence and mobile phone numbers in order not to be reached by the victim’s family.
The Commander, Osun Amotekun Corps, Brig. Gen. Bashir Abiodun Adewinmbi (Rtd), who confirmed the arrest, said the suspect was arrested in Jagun village of Irewole Local Government Area of the state.
His words,“A complaint was lodged against the suspect by the family of the missing person at the Ife North Command of the Corps and following a tip-off from our extensive intelligence gathering network, the suspect was apprehended.”
Adewinmbi said that the suspect confessed to have actually lured the missing person and many others to the same farm in years past.
The suspect, he said, has been handed over to the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP) for further interrogation and prosecution as the law stipulates.
The Amotekun boss reiterated the Corps’ commitment to proactively identify some criminal elements in the state, adding that the job of effective crime detection prevention, and control is for all sundry.