Commander of Oyo State Amotekun Corps says his men will use bees and poisonous snakes against bandits

MEMBERS of the Oyo State Western Nigerian Security Network otherwise known as Amotekun will use all weapons that their disposal to fight armed bandits terrorising the state including bees and poisonous snakes according to their commander.

Over recent years, heavily-armed herdsmen have been running riot across Nigeria, engaging in kidnapping, armed robbery and banditry. To address the problem, the governors from across the southwest geo-political zone decided to launch a regional security outfit named Amotekun, which translates to leopard in the local Yoruba language.

In February 2020, the state houses of assembly in all six states making up the geo-political zone passed laws making Amotekun legal. With the governors backing the agency with vehicles and equipment, it is now expected to serve as a second tier of security, akin to a state police command.

Retired General Kunle Togun, the chairman of the Oyo State chapter of Amotekun, said his officials would use bees and poisonous snakes to attack bandits terrorising the state and region. Speaking while delivering a lecture at the special meeting of Oke-Ogun Development Consultative Forum held at the weekend in Otu Township Hall in Itesiwaju Local Government Area of the state, he also asked for more support.

He called on the federal government to allow Amotekun operatives to make use of AK47 and other standard weapons to fight banditry in the southwestern states. Furthermore, the chairman explained that Oyo State was the number one target of the terrorising bandits because of the vast land space that is close to foreign borders and the fact that it has a body of thick forest where they can hide and attack the people, especially in the Oke-Ogun region.

General Togun said: “During the Covid-19 global restriction, these people were allowed into Nigeria and every corner of the country they wished without hindrance. President Muhammadu Buhari is their backer and we all know.

“These people were coming to Oke-Ogun in trailers and some of our traditional rulers allowed this in their domains despite the fact that people took pictures and videos which they posted online. We will not stop talking about it.

”For us to maintain peace and keep these bandits away, we will resort to the use of bees and poisonous snakes. I have travelled as far as Ibariba area to see great hunters on this, this can even change the perspective of warfare in the world, instead of physical weaponry, let us use wild animals for once.”