Oyo Amotekun operative kills another man as tally rises to 11 in three weeks

A man identified as Tosin Thomas has reportedly been killed by an operative of the Oyo State Security Network, codenamed Operation Amotekun.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that Mr Thomas was killed by an operative named Afolabi Kazeem, on Wednesday evening at Total Filling Station, Mokola, in Ibadan, Oyo State.

Witnesses told our correspondent that Amotekun operatives engaged some peaceful youth in the area around 10:00 p.m. which led to a misunderstanding between the youth and the local police.

An eyewitness, who did not want his name on print, said “the Amotekun guys drove into the filling station and saw some youths. Although the place was rowdy, the youths were peaceful until we heard a gunshot. Before we could say Jack, Thomas was already on the floor and he died immediately.”

The commandant of Amotekun, Olayanju Olayinka, confirmed the incident to PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday.

Mr Olayinka, however, said the operative, who shot the deceased, has been dismissed and handed over to police.

“At about 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 13, 2021, operatives of Amotekun, got an alert of a purported armed robbery operation at Total Filling Station, Mokola, Ibadan. Following the distress call, seven members arrived at the scene. On arrival at the scene of the alleged crime, it turned out that it was not an armed robbery operation, though a crowd had gathered.”

“The Team Leader, sensing no immediate danger to anyone at the scene immediately proceeded to speak with the station manager. While he was with the manager, he heard a gunshot. As it turned out, one of his team members, by the name Afolabi Kazeem, who felt sufficiently threatened by the crowd, which included some hoodlums armed with cutlasses and other dangerous weapons, opened fire to supposedly scare away the crowd. Unfortunately, his shot hit one Mr Tosin Thomas, 23, who was subsequently confirmed dead”, he said.

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“The Corps has found that Afolabi Kazeem with Ammunition Number AM031849 acted outside the Amotekun Corps’ protocols. He has been summarily dismissed from the Corps and handed over to the police for prosecution.”

The spokesperson of the state police command, Olugbenga Fadeyi, did not respond to PREMIUM TIMES’ calls and text messages as of the time of filing this report.

The recent killing by Amotekun brings the total number of persons allegedly killed by Amotekun to 11 in three weeks.

This newspaper in December reported how Kolade Gbadebo, an undergraduate of the University of Ibadan, was shot dead by the operatives at Sabo area of Oyo town.

Also, two youth were killed in Tapa community, Ibarapa North local government of Oyo State on January 6 during carnival.

PREMIUM TIMES also reported that seven people were allegedly killed on January 9 when Amotekun operatives visited the village in search of suspected kidnappers in the axis.

In reaction to public outcry, Governor Seyi Makinde’s spokesperson, Taiwo Adisa, on Tuesday told journalists that “stories you have heard about Amotekun in Oyo State in the last six weeks are indicative of an active organization. If it is not active, the content will not be there to the fact that it is already generating national presence itself, particularly in Oyo State.”

“It actually shows that the operatives are active, ready and committed to the work at hand. And what is the work at hand? To make sure there is peace in the city, in the towns, nooks and cranny of Oyo State generally, and to ensure that people can sleep with both eyes closed.

“So, it has been up and doing and we must commend the operatives of Amotekun because they came up in a very hostile environment. Hostile in the sense that the state and the community was willing to accept them but the environment within which they landed was very hostile.”