Not less than 100 travellers from Zamfara en route Ogere, Ogun State loaded in a truck were intercepted at Bodija area of Ibadan by men of the Oyo State Amotekun corps, on Tuesday.
Some residents around the Bodija market area had notified Amotekun of their suspicion on sighting the truck loaded with bags of onions, beans, potatoes, and motorcycles with Northern travellers comprising men, women, youths and children stuffed in between.
The truck was subsequently moved to the office of Amotekun at Dandaru, Ibadan, where the travellers were interrogated while items in the truck were offloaded and the truck searched.
Upon interrogation at the Amotekun office, the driver of the truck, Abuja BWR 143 XD, Abdullahi Aliu, said he was conveying the items and travellers to Ogere, Ogun State, and only offloaded some items at Bodija market.
Asked why he was conveying such a huge number, Aliu said he assisted some of them on the journey because they did not have transport fares.
Men of the Department of State Services (DSS) and the police were on hand to search and interrogate the travellers.
After search and interrogation, security agencies said no incriminating item was found on the travellers and in the truck.
The security agencies, subsequently, resolved to escort the travellers, to the Ogun state border for them to continue their journey to Ogere, after their destination had been confirmed.
In his remarks, the Commandant of Amotekun in Oyo State, Col. Olayinka Adeyanju (retd.), said those arrested could not be described as terrorists or criminals yet.
He said, “We did not arrest Boko Haram members or criminals. Those we arrested are here. Policemen are here, DSS operatives are here and the NSCDC men are also here.
“They are profiling them as I talk to you. We saw them in a truck and moving such huge number of people is suspicious and that was why we stopped them and brought them here.
“We arrested them and we invited other security agencies to come and profile them.
“With that, they will know if there is any of those who escaped from jail among them. They will find out their mission and where they are going to. They will be released if they are found to be law-abiding citizens.”
