Police storm Osun Amotekun headquarters, order transfer of detainees to custody

By Deborah Oladejo, Osogbo –

A team from the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IGP–IRT) has stormed the headquarters of the Osun Amotekun Corps at the Powerline area of Osogbo over the alleged illegal detention of suspects.

The IGP–IRT team, led by SP Rotimi Ogunmuyiwa and accompanied by the Deputy Commissioner of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Bayonle Sulaiman, arrived at the Amotekun office to investigate a petition alleging that the security outfit had been detaining suspects for over a month without trial.

The team met with the Chairman of the Amotekun Board, AIG Wale Abass (Rtd), and requested to interact with the heads of various units within the corps, including Anti-Cultism, Narcotics, Kidnapping, and Homicide.

However, the heads of those units were said to be unavailable at the time of the visit.

The officers then proceeded to inspect the detention facilities, where they discovered four suspects being held in two separate cells.

Two of the detainees reportedly claimed they had been in custody for more than five weeks over allegations of selling Indian hemp.

Another suspect said he had spent four days in detention for allegedly stealing engine oil, while a Fulani herdsman disclosed he had been held for six days over alleged illegal cattle rearing.

The Deputy Commissioner of CID thereafter directed that all the detainees be handed over to the nearest police divisional headquarters, stressing that it was unlawful for them to have been detained beyond 24 hours without due process.