Amotekun evicts 137 illegal occupants from Ondo forest reserves

The illegal occupants of the forest reserves in Ondo State were moved out on Tuesday in two buses and a trailer to their various destinations.

They were apprehended at Elegbeka forest along Ifon-Owo road on their arrival from unknown destinations.

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Governor Rotimi Akeredolu had, few weeks ago, ordered the eviction of illegal occupants of the state government forest reserves who refused to register with the government.

The governor’s action followed the gruesome murder of the Olufon of Ifon, Oba Adegoke Adeusi, who was shot dead on the Owo-Ifon route few months ago.

The killers are yet to be apprehended.

In an interview, the State Commander of Amotekun Corps, Chief Adetunji Adeleye, said the 137 illegal forest occupants had to be escorted out of Ondo State to where they came from.

“We got an intelligence report that many people bombarded the forests reserves at Legbeka-Ifon area in the state. We moved in and on questioning, majority of them said they were from the Northern part of the country.

“We asked for their mission, but they were not able to give us a clear-cut of what they were here for. We brought some of them (to Akure) and their sponsors here to the headquarters (of Amotekun) for proper investigation.

“We profiled them and we found out that they were conniving with some persons in Ose to be given space for settlement in the government’s forest reserves which makes them illegal occupants of the forests. We are sending them back to where they claimed they came from,” Adeleye said.