The Amotekun corps was established in Ondo in 2020 as part of a regional security initiative to combat rising insecurity, like kidnapping and banditry, and has since become a symbol of local empowerment.
Modelled after community policing, the outfit recruits
locals, including retired security personnel and civilians, to bolster state
efforts against crime. Yet, beneath its mandate to protect lives and property
lies a brewing crisis over worker rights, formalisation, and accountability.
For three operatives — Taiwo Abu, Victor Akinsipe, and
Julius Ekujumi — their service has turned into a nightmare.
On October 27, 2025, Adetunji Adeleye, commander of the
corps in Ondo, declared them wanted over allegations of gross misconduct,
including “breaching oaths of allegiance and secrecy, undermining management,
and distracting the agency”.
The trio had insisted that their only “crime” was demanding
basic employment documents. These include appointment and confirmation letters
that would integrate them into the state payroll, ensuring pensions, retirement
benefits, and job security — perks already enjoyed by Amotekun counterparts in
Osun, Ekiti, and Ogun states.
The controversy went viral after a press briefing where
Adeleye paraded suspected criminals and also accused the officers of being
“sponsored” to tarnish the corps’ image.
He said Amotekun operates under strict protocols, adding
that identity and warrant cards are only for full government staff, and warned
against social media smear campaigns.
But the officers, who had served over five years without
formal papers, painted a picture of retaliation, court sabotage, and
life-threatening encounters.
Akinsipe, an ICT expert and drone pilot with the regional
security outfit, shared his side of the story with TheCable.
He claimed that the primary reason the corps commander
refused to release the requested documents was because of his “personal
involvement in illegally profiting from the outdated system”.
‘LACK OF TRANSPARENCY’
Akinsipe alleged that Adeleye oversees a network that
maintains ghost workers on the payroll and that the commander personally
collects the salaries of over 2,000 of these fictitious employees.
“The major problem we are having is ghost workers. The total
strength of Ondo state Amotekun as we stand is 1,186. But I was told that the
commander is collecting salaries for 3,500 people,” he alleged.
“He says that our strength is 3,500, which means he is
collecting the remuneration of more than 2,000 people. So, he knows that if we
are issued a formal letter, the government is going to have a headcount of the
agency, and they will know our total strength.”
Akinsipe said their demands began with peaceful meetings. He
said, on October 17, 2025, they submitted requests for the letters and provided
copies from other states: Osun (issued 2020), Ekiti (2021), and Ogun (2021,
including confirmation and payroll integration).
“We gathered all these copies and presented them to the
commander. We sent this copy to the governor, to the head of service, SSA on
security, and to the speaker, even to the attorney-general,” he said.
According to him, a second meeting on October 23 at the
Senior Staff Club in Akure, the state capital, turned chaotic. Akinsipe, Abu,
and Julius were discussing with six assistant commanders when two vans arrived.
“The same person (Adeleye) who called for a peaceful meeting
used the peaceful meeting as bait,” Akinsipe recounted.
He said that as he was approached by the men in the van, he
fled but was attacked and injured before he could leave the staff club.
“I was the main target because I was the one writing to the
governor and the head of service,” he added.
Adesipe said the three of them escaped to the governor’s
office, reported to the SSA on security, but the governor was absent, and the
deputy governor didn’t meet with them because he was in a meeting.
Undeterred, they sued Amotekun and Adeleye at the Ondo state
high court, arguing that placing them on the wanted list lacked a court order.
They also alleged procedural sabotage by the state government via the
attorney-general’s office.
“For almost a month, we were not given a hearing date until
our lawyer petitioned the attorney-general,” Akinsipe said.
“For about three times now, the Ondo state Amotekun lawyers
have refused to show up in court.”
Akinsipe said the personal toll of the ordeal on his life
and that of his family is profound.
Declared wanted the day his wife gave birth, he missed his
newborn’s naming ceremony and has been on the run since then.
“Till this present time, I have been hiding because I do not
have freedom of movement. My family is falling apart. Right now, I am losing
hope and faith. My strength is gone,” Akinsipe said.
Abu’s ordeal is even more harrowing, marked by gunshots and
family disruption.
In a video shared on his Facebook page, Abu showed a T-shirt
filled with “bullet holes”.
He said after escaping from the staff club, he was trailed
to his house, where he had to flee and leave his young wife behind.
In the chaos, his phone was allegedly seized by pursuers,
leaving him isolated and unable to contact his family for several days.
The crisis reverberated at Abu’s home. According to him,
security operatives, including Amotekun and police officers, raided his house,
chasing out his wife in a terrifying ordeal that left her with a broken leg.
Abu, now hiding, lives in constant fear for his life, unable
to return home or provide for his family.
He said this incident has shattered his household, with him
grappling with the trauma of near-death and separation, all while evading
capture.
The trio’s case reflects broader issues in Amotekun’s
operations. Akinsipe also accused the command of making strategic placements,
in which non-graduates with only primary school certificates are assigned to
leadership roles to suppress demands.
“He (Adeleye) makes sure that in all the leadership
positions, he’s positioning holders of primary school certificates to be the
leaders. Like if he’s giving them level 14, he will be giving graduates level
8,” he alleged.
This isn’t Ondo’s first Amotekun controversy. In 2023, a
court fined the corps N30 million for human rights abuses after operatives shot
a resident in Okitipupa.
As the court case stalls, the officers’ plight raises
questions about transparency in security agencies run with public funds. For
now, these former frontline defenders remain shadows of their former selves,
pleading for justice amid a system they once served.
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