The agency is accused of an illegal recruitment scheme by the former DG of Osun Amotekun.

The agency is accused of an illegal recruitment scheme by the former DG of Osun Amotekun.
Amitolu Shittu, the Pioneer Director-General of the Osun Amotekun Corps, has expressed concern about what he said is the improper recruitment of criminal elements into the security organisation.

Speaking to reporters in Osogbo on Saturday, Shittu, who was appointed in April 2020 by the former governor Adegboyega Oyetola’s administration, made the accusations.

He claimed that in order to undermine public trust in the organization’s operations, current State Commander Isaac Adekunle Omoyele had enlisted drug users, cultists, and ex-offenders.

Isaac Omoyele, the Amotekun Corps’ current State Commander, brought in a variety of convicts. They brought in and gave guns to cultists, ritualists, ex-offenders, hard-drug users, and traffickers. “The security agencies need to do new profiling on them,” he said.

He claimed that people who were supposedly recruited under the current leadership were now endangering citizens of Osun State.

Omoyele was accused by Shittu of personalising the agency and assigning its employees to tasks that were not permitted by the legislation that established the corps.

“The state is currently being terrorised by those recruits.” Did the DSS and police screen them? Are their records with us? Those in Amotekun are currently committing a number of crimes, including the murders in Akinlalu.

“Amotekun Corps are not on duty as security personnel. “Very awful,” he continued.

He urged Governor Ademola Adeleke to order a comprehensive profiling of all staff hired under the current administration and demanded that Omoyele be removed and prosecuted immediately.

“All criminal elements within the agency, especially those involved in the Akinlalu incident, should be arrested and prosecuted, and he should be made to face the law,” Shittu demanded.

Through the Corps’ spokesperson, Idowu Yusuf, Osun Amotekun Corps Commander Omoyele responded by refuting the accusations, calling them baseless and politically motivated.

“Calls for my sack seem to be motivated by personal grievances, political sentiment, or attempts to undermine the Corps’ operations and reputation,” Omoyele said.

He stressed that appropriate process was followed in his appointment and that the hiring procedure was still rigorous and open.

“We have a comprehensive and open hiring procedure. Candidates go through a medical examination, credential verification, and physical screening. Additionally, they offer reputable guarantors like Level 12 civil servants, pastors, imams, or royal fathers,” he stated.

Omoyele vowed to be professional in all interactions and stressed that the Corps function in line with the law and the administration of Governor Adeleke.

The accusations are made in the wake of recent deaths in the Ife North local government area’s Akinlalu neighbourhood, where three locals were allegedly shot dead by Amotekun agents.