By Suleiman Anyalewechi
The Arewa Consultative Forum ACF has expressed deep shock and concern over the alleged arrest, profiling and threats of deportation of Northern women resident in parts of Ondo State.
In a statement on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, from its Board of Trustees, BoT, Chairman, Bashir Dalhatu, the ACF alleged that several women of Northern region extraction have been arrested and paraded in the last couple days by operatives of the Ondo State Security Network Agency, otherwise known as Amotekun.
The apex sociocultural organization of Northerners roundly condemned the attempt to criminalize the entire Hausa/Fulani Northerners resident in the state.
The ACF maintained that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria guarantees every citizen of Nigeria the inalienable right to move freely, reside and conduct his/her lawful activities in any part of the country without discrimination based on ethnicity, religion, language or place of birth.
According to the body, the incident has further raised concern about the move by the authorities to institutionalise State Police and the imperative of putting in place strong constitutional framework to check abuse and misuse by state authorities.
“The attempt by officials.of the Ondo State Amotekun Corps to profile, intimidate and threaten to deport fellow Nigerians to their States or regions of origin is especially alarming”, Dalhatu stated.
The ACF Chairman particularly described the action of Amotekun Corps as not only discriminatory, unconstitutional and a gross violation of the fundamental rights of the victims, but also a disturbing threat to the unity and stability of the country.
The umbrella body of Northerners expressed shock and disbelief over images from a viral video online showing a group of women from the region being paraded and humiliated by operatives of Ondo state Amotekun Corps.
The ACF accused the state’s security outfit of unjustly harassing and intimidating the victims ,who it insists are Nigerian citizens , engaged in lawful activities in Ondo state.
The regional body emphasized that no quasi security outfit or local authority has the constitutional powers to arrest, profile, and deport fellow Nigerian citizens from one part of the Federation to another.
The ACF described the orchestrated arrest, and alleged humiliation of Northern women who are engaged in legitimate economic,and social activities in their country of origin, as totally unacceptable.
While admitting the serious security challenges bedeviling some parts of the country, the ACF however emphasized that attempts at addressing crime ,and criminal activities should be done with due respect for due process, and constitutionally guaranteed rights of citizens.
Particularly, the ACF noted that measures aimed at fighting criminality should be intelligence-driven, and devoid of indiscriminate profiling of a whole region.
“Entire communities cannot be criminalized because of the action of a few individuals. To do so is unjust, counterproductive and a direct invitation to ethnic tension ” the ACF noted.
Besides stoking ethnic unrest, the ACF further warned that a wholesale profiling of an entire region could spell doom for the unity and stability of the country.
The body reminded that several thousands of indigenes of Ondo State, South West Region ,and other parts of the country are resident in the North, conducting their lawful activities without any harassment ,and intimidation.
While urging the Ondo State authorities to wade into the matter, the ACF similarly called on the Federal Government , through relevant bodies to investigate the actual circumstances surrounding the unfortunate development in the State
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