Following the incessant attacks on residents of Osun State by criminals suspected to be herdsmen, the governor of the state, Gboyega Oyetola has called on the military for help.
There were reports that the state in the last three months have come under intense attacks from all fronts, as suspected herdsmen rob, kidnap, kill and maim in communities and highways within the state.
The state had witnessed over ten cases of kidnappings in the last three months, while millions of naira were paid as ransom without a single arrest made by the police.
It is against this backdrop that the governor on Thursday met with Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai for the purpose of ameliorating degenerated security situation in the state.
According to the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr Adeniyi Adesina, in a statement made available to newsmen in Osogbo, the Osun state capital, “the governor requested Gen. Buratai to speed up action on his promise to allow his soldiers to be part of the joint security team to combat rising crime in the state”.
The statement explained that Oyetola had informed Buratai that his visit was a follow up to the letter of request the state sent to him, seeking support of military to be part of joint security patrol set up by the government.
It quoted the governor saying “we believe security is paramount and it is the key to development. We need your full support for the joint patrol plan.”
It added that Buratai, in his response assured the governor of his readiness to help the state in tackling it’s present security challenge and keep it safe.
Meanwhile, a civil society organisation, Advocacy for Peace in Africa has flayed security agencies in the state for what it called display of incompetence and inefficiency.
Speaking with journalists on Friday, the State Coordinator of the organisation, Comrade Sunday Adams, said the present security challenges in Osun State have exposed the level of ineptitude of all the security agencies working in the state.
He also carpeted the current government in the state for being slow and less proactive in responding to sensitive issues like security.
Adams also expressed dismay on the governor’s recent visit to the Chief of Army Staff, adding that the government ought to have moved faster than that considering level of security threat presently facing the state.
“We have never experienced this type of dormant security apparatus in the state before, despite the terrible and unprecedented security menace in the state, in which kidnappers and banditry have taken over communities in the state, it is indeed inexplicable that no single arrest has been made.
“The security architecture in the state has gone into coma, no reliable intelligence gathering mechanism to nip criminality in the bud, nor dependable gallantry to effect arrest.
“It is even astonishing the way serious security issue has been reduced to comic relief, as police in the state apprehended cripples at the scene of crime without any logical evidence, where a civil servant in the state was murdered in cold blood by bandits.
“The government is also moving with a speed of ailing snail; can you imagine the governor is still begging the Military for help, reminding Chief of Army Staff of letter at this moment when his state is under the siege of criminals.
“It shows the government is not creative in any way, it is not looking inward, and it became more messier when the newly inaugurated parliament in the state is headed by weaklings, individuals with terrible pedigree that has eroded courage of changing the ugly trend,” he said.
