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The Ondo State Security Network Agency, codenamed Amotekun Corps, said it has observed an influx of foreigners moving through forests and towns in the state under various guises in recent months.
The state corps commander, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye expressed these concerns while parading some suspects in the state on Monday.
He said, “I wish to draw the attention of the general public to the shameful manner in which foreigners traverse the forests and towns of this state under various guises.
The command said it arrested 53 suspects, including 21 undocumented foreign nationals who were allegedly living in two apartments in Owo, headquarters of Owo Local Government Area of the state.
The suspects were among those paraded by the corps at its headquarters in Akure for alleged involvement in various activities, including kidnapping, self-kidnapping, murder, attempted murder, robbery, theft and cultism.
Parading the suspects in Akure, Adeleye said the 21 foreigners were arrested based on intelligence provided by members of the Fulani community in the state.
Adeleye said the suspects admitted to entering Nigeria from neighboring West Africa to do manual labor and telephone repair, but could not produce documents allowing them to stay in the country.
“Consistently in the last three months, we have often seen foreigners pretending to sell phones, pretending to repair phones, staying in hotels where the purpose of coming is not worth it.
“We have referred them to the relevant security agencies for questioning.
“Today again, there are 21 of them who rented just two apartments in Owo under the guise of coming from neighboring West African countries to do manual labor and telephone repairs, coordinated and assisted by the indigenous community.
“We found that they did not even have ECOWAS papers to guarantee their stay.”
Adeleye said apartment owners could also face scrutiny because they are more concerned with collecting rent than knowing the identities and activities of their tenants.
He warned that undocumented foreigners abandoned by their sponsors could be vulnerable to recruitment in criminal activities.
“In addition to being highly likely to be suspected of being illegal immigrants, often when their sponsors abandon them, they become ready-to-use tools as criminals and accomplices,” he said.
But the commander said that the 21 foreigners had been handed over to appropriate government agencies for further investigation and necessary action.
Meanwhile, Adeleye said his command had also uncovered a self-kidnapping syndicate involving four suspects who allegedly used social media to give false alarms and demand money.
He said the suspects included a man who reportedly told the Amotekun Corps that his brothers had been kidnapped but was later found to be an accomplice.
According to him, investigators arrested two suspects and then traced the victim who was suspected of being kidnapped to his home.
“We have four people here today who committed self-kidnapping and gave false alarms via social media. We moved in and managed to arrest the first two people.
“After detailed investigation, we discovered that the man who rushed to the Amotekun Corps office to report that his brothers were kidnapped was in fact an accomplice. And after detailed investigation, he took us to his house where we found the man they claimed had been kidnapped,” he said.
Adeleye also revealed that seven other suspects were arrested for alleged kidnapping activities after collaborating with members of the Fulani community.
He said a military uniform was recovered from one of the suspected kidnappers during the operation, while two kidnapped boys were rescued.
According to him, one of the victims suffered machete wounds to the head and body during the attack, but was rescued alive and taken for medical treatment.
