Makinde: We’ve Turned Heat On Criminals
From Yinka Adeniran and Segun Showunmi, Ibadan
Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has said his administration has turned the heat on kidnappers and other criminals in Ibarapa and Oke-Ogun.
He added that the government would flush them out of the state.
Makinde, speaking in Ibarapa where he engaged the people in town hall meetings, said his administration would get the criminals to account for their heinous acts.
He said Oyo State could not afford to lose more people to insecurity, noting, however, that any action that must be taken must be guided by the realisation that a wrong solution must not be proffered in order to avoid unintended consequences.
According to a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, Makinde spoke in Ibarapa land during meetings at Idere, Igangan and during visits to the homes of the late Dr. Fatai Aborode and others who died in the crisis.
The governor, who equally commiserated with Mrs. Idowu Babarinde, who lost a child to indiscriminate shooting by kidnappers in their attempt to kidnap a filling station owner at Idere, said he was pained by the losses, adding that he felt the pains of the people of Ibarapa land.
He said the government would compensate victims of insecurity in Ibarapa land.
Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Oyo State Command, yesterday deployed 150 personnel of the Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) in the crisis-ridden areas to ensure peace.
It urged the people to support security agencies to secure lives and property.
Ibarapa zone has recorded security challenges following clashes between residents and herders.
A statement by the command spokesman, Oluwole Olusegun, noted that the Oyo NSCDC Commandant, Iskilu Akinsanya, said security was not only a governmental issue, but also a collective responsibility of indigenes and residents.
In his effort to bring security closer to the grassroots, Akinsanya announced the creation of additional three area commands to the existing six areas in the state to make it nine area commands.
The three new areas are Area G-Egbeda, Area H-Kishi and Area I-Saki.
He warned residents to desist from violence, saying anybody caught would be punished.
In line with the directive of Governor Makinde that local government chairmen should convene security stakeholders’ meetings, council bosses in Ibadan North East Local Government and Ibadan East Local Council Development Area (LCDA) on Monday kick-started the meeting.
It was held barely 24 hours after the governor directed security stakeholders’ meetings, while doing same in Igboora, Ibarapa North, where he met individuals and groups to find a solution to insecurity in the area and the state.
The emergency security meeting was attended by stakeholders in the local governments like commissioners Bayo Lawal (Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters), Dr. Wasiu Olatunbosun (Information, Culture and Tourism), Caretaker Chairman, Ibadan North East Local Government, Mr. Ibrahim Akintayo, his counterpart at the Ibadan East LCDA, Mr. Abiodun Babalola, traditional heads, religious leaders, community leaders, prominent individuals, representatives of security agencies, among others, from the council areas.
Briefing reporters after the three-hour closed-door security meeting held at the Ibadan-North Local Government secretariat, Lawal said the governor is worried about the crisis in the local government, hence the convening of the meeting to proffer solution to the insecurity.
