Man Arrested In Osun Over Missing Neighbor

The Osun State Security Network Agency, otherwise known as Amotekun Corps, said it has arrested a resident of the state, Banji Olaniyi, following the disappearance of one Damilare Akinranti, whom he took to a farm.

The two men were said to be living in Mooro until November 6, 2022, when, Olaniyi, 31, took Akinranti, aged 24 to a farm located in Iguede Village.

Since that day, Akinranti has not been found while Olaniyi returned to Mooro, but later allegedly relocated to an undisclosed location and changed his mobile line.

A statement by the spokesperson for the Corps, Yusuf Idowu, obtained in Osogbo on Saturday, said people became suspicious of Olaniyi and a search was launched which later led to his arrest in Jagun village in Irewole Local Government Area of the state, over 11 months after Akinranti got missing.

According to the statement, Eleven months ago, precisely Sunday, November 6, 2022, at around 9am, Banji Olaniyi Julius convinced Damilare Akinranti, aged 24, to follow him to a farm in Iguede, Area 5, a distant farm in that same local government area; only for Akinranti to get missing since then.

The suspect who lured his victim to a farm in Iguede without his family members’ knowledge, had since absconded from home when it was discovered that he took Akinranti to a farm in Iguede and did not return with him. Aside from changing residence, he also changed his mobile phone number.

The suspect was arrested in Jagun village of Irewole Local Government Area. He has been on the radar of the Osun Amotekun since a complaint was lodged against him by the family of the missing person at the Ife North Command of the Corps.

Luck ran out on him, following a tip-off from our extensive intelligence gathering. Upon his arrest and preliminary investigation, the suspect confessed to having lured the missing person and many others to the same farm in years past.

The Corps said the suspect has been handed over to the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons in the state for further action.