By; BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan
Worried by spate of kidnapping on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, Oyo State Government is set to engage
traditional leaders and local vigilantes to put an end to incessant kidnappings.
This was disclosed on Friday by the Special Adviser on Security Matters to Governor ‘Seyi Makinde, CP Fatai Owoseni (rtd), while briefing newsmen on the outcome of a stakeholders’ security meeting held at the Oyo State Security Trust Fund Office, Onireke, Ibadan.
He stressed that, “the vigilantes and other non-state actors will work with regular security agencies in order to arrest perpetrators of heinous crimes along the expressway’ and that the collaborations of the Oyo and Ogun state governments are already yielding positive results with the governments of the two states have strengthened the security architecture on the Ibadan-Lagos expressway.
“Sadly, we have had three incidents in one week cutting across, that made it to look as if the security agents are sleeping on their obligations but I must correct that impression. Before then, it was not as if measures and strategies were not put in place to curb any incident”, he said.
CP Owoseni (rtd) added, “The perception and the interpretation that has been given is that your community is insecure but it is not possible to have a totally crime-free society. Concerning the incidents we recorded about two weeks ago, a whole lot has been put in place by the government to ensure that we give safety to commuters, not just on the express road but the road that leads to Lagos and Abeokuta and some other parts of Oyo State”.
The Special Adviser on Security noted, “and that also was the reason why the governors of Ogun and Oyo States met to form Joint Security Committee. So, in essence, with what has happened, the interpretation of security will be that there must have been a gap”.
“The criminal elements who are on the other side believe it is their profession and would probably must have noticed a gap that they can capitalise on, which would translate to what I can call ‘opportunistic crime.’ Having said that, we have looked back to see where we got it wrong and looked at the lesson”, saying, “and that also explains why, for the past one week, jointly with Ogun State security team, we have formed a Technical Working Group.
” We have been sitting together to see what we can do to remain proactive. For now, we have strengthened visibility and also found out some certain things. We have taken a lesson from that to say that whatever that is put in place now will be something that is workable, practical, sustainable and that is where we are now.
CP Owoseni maintained “Is it that with the non-state actors that we are using, we have not been able to tidy up the framework with which we work for them? We have looked at that as well to improve the collaboration with the locals that know the nooks and crannies of the community”.
” We have also looked at how we can optimise the use of the traditional institutions, the Baales in our areas including those that do business in the communities. How much of relationship do they have with the traditional rulers in the said areas. Are they doing the necessary Corporate Social Responsibilities CSR? All these things matter.”
He pointed out that ” Yesterday, we had an interaction with the corporate Ibadan factories around that area to have a serious dialogue with them to say that what is it that we are doing, which can make people sell out in that area? And how can we also incorporate you properly into the state’s security architecture? This is because investigations into the case pointed to the fact that some of the staffers are sell-outs. Do, we have to close all the gaps and that is what we have been doing.”
Emphasizing that the governments of both states are working together to secure the axis, he said, “Ogun and Oyo states are working together strongly and fortunately for us, the governors of the two states recognise the need that whatever come out from the interactions we see doing, their own support is necessary.”
“Security is expensive and funding is key to whatever we want to do. If you want to bring in the non-state actors, local hunters, if we are bringing them in, how much of motivation are we giving them? So, a these areas have been identified.
We have reinvigorated our visibility on the road, deny the criminal elements the space to operate freely. We are going after the ones that have operated and bring them to justice. Philosophy in security is ‘don’t let it happen’. If it happens, let the people that do it know that you can get them and make them face the law’. So, we are approaching both ways.
“All the security agencies and commanders are working together and we have also used this to strengthen the synergy that all the agencies have. Anyone plying the road now will see static and mobile deployments.
