Bashir Adewimbi, the commander of the Osun Amotekun Corps, says hunters would be recruited to strengthen security and flush out bandits hiding in forests.

Mr Adewimbi, who disclosed this in an interview on Saturday in Ede, stated that they had credible intelligence that bandits and criminals were hiding in the forests.

“We have credible intelligence that bandits are all in our forests, and we are strategising to comb the forests and make sure we drive them away or arrest them.

“We are going to recruit courageous hunters that go into the forest to hunt for weeks and months,” he said.  

Mr Adewimbi said the spate of banditry experienced in the state was a “spillover” from the happenings across the country.

Stating that the corps was determined to flush out bandits, he disclosed that Governor Gboyega Oyetola had approved the recruitment of more operatives.

“The people we are looking for, we want now, are people that can combat the problem on ground,” he said.

He said presently, the corps only has 360 operatives deployed to all the 30 local government areas, and a local council area, in the state, stating that there was a serious need to recruit more men.

Mr Adewimbi said,” Although the state Amotekun corps gathers intelligence and works with existing security agencies to enhance community policing, their restriction to carry firearms limits their crime-fighting operations.

“In the process of our recruitment, we factored that we are not allowed to carry arms /guns, but we are working on obtaining licenced guns.”

Speaking on improving security in the state, Mr Adewimbi called on the residents to continuously monitor their environments and not harbour criminals.

He added,” government alone cannot provide all the funds and equipment needed by Amotekun for its operations.”

(NAN)