Court jails 17 suspected terrorists in Ondo

The defendants were arraigned by the men of the State Security Outfit, Codenamed ‘Amotekun, on three counts of conspiracy, illegal possession of firearms and wandering in public places.

Prosecuting counsel, Olusegun Akeredolu, told the court that the defendant was arrested on November 4, 2021, along Akure/ Ondo expressway by the men of the Amoteken Corps after their buses attempted to overrun the security agents and speed off.

Akeredolu said the defendant conspired to commit a felony.

The passengers were said to have conspired with the driver not to wait for the officers of the law when they were stopped at a checkpoint but instead sped off.

The Prosecutor added that the defendants were in possession of firearms without a valid license

They were also said to be found wandering in a public place at about 2a:m and under such circumstances that led to the conclusion that they were at the place for an illegal and disorderly purpose.

According to the charge, the offences contravene Section 516 and 260 of the Criminal Code Law of Ondo State, 2006 and Section 6(b) cap R11 Robbery and Firearms (special provision) Act, laws of the federation 2004.”

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The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charge

The defence counsels, O.J. Emmanuel and P.O. Attah during the trial told the court that the defendants were innocent travellers that boarded a bus from a park in Katsina heading to Lagos.

Emmanuel, in his address, told the court that the driver of the bus knew nothing about the sack containing daggers found inside the bus as they were just a message given to him by someone in Lagos.

He added that the defendants refused to wait when they were asked to stop by the security agents and had to be pursued from Akure to Ondo town.

The defendants in their evidence individually denied the ownership of the sack of weapons found inside the bus, insisting that they were just passengers.

They equally said that they thought those that stopped them were armed robbers hence they took off without stopping.

The driver claimed that no gun was found in the bus and that the sacks containing knives and daggers were messages given to him at the park in Katsina expected to be delivered to someone in Lagos.

He claimed that he did not bother to check the content of the message.

Recall that 18 persons in a bus conveying weapons in Ondo town were arrested by the personnel of Amotekun

The bus was loaded with 500 pieces of weapons such as guns, knives, carriages and swords.

The items were reportedly concealed inside a sack and were kept under the seat of one of the buses.

According to the state Commander of Amotekun, Chief Adetunji Adeleye, three buses escaped from different checkpoints in the state but one of them was arrested in Ondo town.

“They had a brief stop just before they entered the town and when our men tried to stop them, the three buses escaped.

” We had to radio all our control points and we were able to bring the three buses to a stop at a point on Ondo road by a combined team including the police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.

“The buses attempted to overrun the security agents and speed off.

”The speed was so much that they hit the barricades on the road. We discovered that it was difficult pursuing them and didn’t want to cause any accidents. So we radioed our station at Owena and the security men there blocked the road.

Adeleye said that ” On getting there, they were able to escape by hitting the barricades again. “We continued pursue them while we called the Ile-Oluji junction, saying that they should block the road properly but the suspects also escaped. We now had a complete blockade before the Akure garage in Ondo town and there we were able to apprehend them.”

Court jailed 17 suspected terrorists in Ondo