Growing Insecurity In Kwara

The first major priority of any serious government whether at the national, state or local level is the protection of the lives and property of every citizen irrespective of the tribe, religion or political affiliation. In this report Taiwo Niyi examines the security challenges currently being experienced in some parts of Kwara State and proffers the way forward.

​The reported cases of kidnapping in Kwara state has been mind boggling and poses serious threat to the citizens given its effect in all spheres of life of the residents in the state.

​Different cases of Kidnapping have been reported in different parts of the state in recent times.

​ This has taken its toll on farming activities as some farmers are scared to return to their farms, which has had a negative effect on the economy and food security of the state and the nation at large.

​However, some communities in the state are security conscious and careful of strangers in their midst. Also to travel and tour at night is now a nightmare in some strategic places across the state.

​Kwara is a neighbor State to Niger state, and has national forest stretching from North run through the states making the state accessible to herdsmen, militias and bandits migrating from the Northern states like Zamfara and Kaduna.

​Recently, two people were reportedly shot dead by unknown gunmen along Obbo Ayegunle- Osi-road in Ekiti local government area of Kwara state.

​A statement by the spokesperson of the Kwara state Police Command, SP Okasanmi Ajayi, said the gunmen forcefully attacked an 18-seater commercial bus with REG NO XC 167 MUN along Obbo Ayegunle- Osi-road, killing two people, while an unspecified number of passengers were abducted.

​The statement said that: “On receipt of the information by the police in Obbo Ayegunle, policemen, vigilante, local hunters and available members of sister agencies on ground immediately raced to the scene. Bodies of the dead were retrieved and deposited at Carosi Hospital mortuary in Osi for autopsy, while they stormed the bushes in an effort to get the kidnapped victims rescued.

​“The Commissioner of Police, Cp Tuesday Assayomo, on hearing of the unfortunate incident directed that a massive manhunt for the perpetrators of the heinous crime must commence, gave a marching order to the Area Commander and the Divisional Police Officers covering the area to move into the bushes to ensure that the kidnapped victims were rescued and the kidnappers arrested.

​“While empathizing with the families of the deceased, the Commissioner of Police assures that the perpetrators of the crime would be smoked out from wherever they may be hiding.

​“Consequently, the CP has directed a 24-hour patrol of the area in conjunction with other sister security agencies to boost the confidence of the people and to also prevent any further attack in the area.”

​Meanwhile, the Kwara State Government has appealed to the people of Obbo Aiyegunle to be calm in the wake of a fresh abduction and death of two persons.

​In a statement the government said a reinforced security team comprising police, secret service and the military has been dispatched to support the existing security architecture in the area.

​It sincerely commiserated with the families of the two victims who lost their lives, and pledges to take every step to safely return those abducted to their loved ones, the statement said.

​“While the police and DSS contingents have since arrived in the area, the military team is expected to join the operation that is planned to not only rescue the victims but also ensure that appropriate actions are taken against the perpetrators,” according to the statement by the Commissioner for Communications Hon. Bode Towoju.

​It would be recalled that one Alhaji Alaga Olayemi, a farmer, was kidnapped in Oke Onigbin in Isin Local Government Area of Kwara State by unknown gunmen.

​According to some villagers in the community who confided in newsmen, Olayemi and his two aides were ambushed by their attackers around 7 p.m while returning home from their maize farm near Oke Onigbin.

​While the two aides were lucky to have escaped being abducted, their boss was not that lucky as he was reportedly whisked off by the kidnappers. However, the two aides were said to have escaped with severe injuries they sustained from machete cuts inflicted on them by the marauders.

​It was learnt that the dastardly incident has thrown OkeOnigbin community and its environs into tension as villagers are reportedly living in great fear.

​One of the villagers, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, said: “It is lamentable that Kwara South region which is hitherto a peaceful place, has now turned to be a habitable place for criminal elements since few months back while government and security agencies have not been able to arrest the situation.

​“Several civil society organizations, including EkitiIgbomina Youth Agenda, have raised the alarm and pleaded with the government to take urgent steps at arresting the situation but the government appears to be treating the growing insecurity within Kwara South with levity.

​“There was also a report that a monarch who was kidnapped by gunmen from far away Ekiti State was rescued in Kwara State by combined operatives of Amotekun and local hunters. This is highly embarrassing and only suggests that the three tiers of government and the security agencies are sleeping on issues of insecurity across the country.

​“We therefore call on the administration of Governor AbdulRahman AbulRazaq to rise up to the occasion by nipping the issue of insecurity in the bud across the state since no meaningful development can be made where there is anarchy and chaos.”

​The kidnapping incident was confirmed by the Kwara State Police Command’s spokesperson, SP Okasanmi Ajayi who later disclosed that the police rescued some of the abducted victims.

​“The Commissioner of Police, Kwara State, CP Mohammed Lawal Bagega is pleased to inform the good people of Kwara, the rescue of 69 year old Alhaji Alaga Olayemi, who was abducted in his farm at Oke Onigbin in the evening of 21/4/2021 by a seven man gun wielding gang.

​“After a painstaking search and rescue operation, ordered by the Commissioner of Police Kwara State and conducted within OkeOnigbin, Iloffa, Ekiti and Eruku area of the state by the police and other members of the security Community in the state, forced the abductors to abandon their victim at Oyogbovillage under intense security pressure when it became obvious they couldn’t escape arrest.

​The victim is presently undergoing some medical check upin a hospital (name withheld) while effort is being intensified to get the abductors apprehended.”

​“The Commissioner of Police, while soliciting  more cooperation of the citizens by giving police information, wishes to assure the good people of Kwara State of their safety at all times and warning criminal elements to vacate the state as the police command would not hesitate to employ all lawful means to deal with criminals irrespective of their status, ” he added

​Also, Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have reportedly abducted a United States of America (USA) returnee, who is also an indigene of Ilorin emirate.

​The victim, Muritala Adebayo, was said to have been kidnapped on his farm located at Pampo, Asa local government area of the state,

​An eyewitness account told journalists that, “we were all in the farm when suddenly we started hearing sporadic gunshots and we all scampered for safety.

​“A few minutes later, we learnt that the owner of a neighbouring farm had been kidnapped”. Adebayo’s abductors, it was gathered, had demanded a ransom of N100 million to secure his release.

​It was also gathered that sources in the family of the kidnapped had confirmed that the abductors had contacted them, saying that a demand of N100 million was made for his release.

​“They have called us more than four times, asking us to ensure we get the money or he will not be returned alive. We are doing everything humanly possible to secure his release”, the source said.

​The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the state police command, Okasanmi Ajayi, also confirmed the incident and said that the command got a distress call from a member of the victim late on Thursday night.

​“Immediately, the state Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Bagega, deployed a team of investigators to the scene of the incident on Friday. The investigators combed everywhere in and around the farm.

“The command is doing everything possible to ensure the safe rescue of the victim and the arrest of the suspected abductors”, he said

​The PPRO, however, said that the command “is not a party to ransom payment to suspected kidnappers. Rather we enjoin families of kidnapped victims to collaborate with the police for the safe release/rescue of the victim”.

​ The Kwara Police Command also said it has rescued four of the seven people abducted on Ilorin-Omu-Aran road.

​This was disclosed in a statement by the Police Public Relations Officer of the command, SP Ajayi Okasanmi.

​The command said it received reports of two kidnapping incidents simultaneously on Saturday at about 5:35 p.m on Oke-Onigbin/Omu-Aran highway and Ekiti -Ekan Meje axis.

​The statement explained that six armed men emerged from the bush and stopped a Siena bus in transit from Ekiti on its way to Ilorin and marched the seven occupants of the vehicle into the bush.

​“The command promptly dispatched its tactical units, comprising the anti-kidnapping and anti-cultists units, joined by local hunters and vigilantes while policemen who were on patrols on the routes were alerted.

​“The abductors were instantly chased into the bushes, four out of the seven abducted persons were rescued; efforts are still in top gear to get the remaining three rescued.

​“Deploying similar tactics by operatives, those abducted in Ekan-Meje-Ekiti axis using the same modus operandi were equally rescued, remaining a pastor and his wife who the command is frantically doing everything possible to rescue unhurt,” the police said.

​The statement said some suspects had been arrested and were helping the command in its investigation.

​“The situation is under control; the good people of KwaraState are advised to go about their lawful businesses without any fear of molestation and attack,” the police said.

​It would be recalled that the security challenges between farmers and herdsmen in Oyo led to the influx of herder into Kwara state whereby the state Governor AbdulrahmanAbdulradaq led delegation of the state official and traditional rulers to Ibadan for a joint security meeting with his Oyo state counterpart, Seyi Makinde where they discuss the need for the two states to share intelligence and find lasting solutions to security challenge across order communities as they agreed to collaborate to stem the tide of security challenges and foster social economic development

​Also, the state Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaqrecently presented 20 new patrol vehicles and dozens of bulletproof vests to security agencies in the state, a gesture meant to strengthen rapid response, curb crimes and make the state safer.

​This comes a few months after his administration donated many vehicles to the agencies as part of its multi-layered strategies to secure the state and attract investments.

​The vehicles comprise 10 saloon cars exclusively donated to the police and another 10 Toyota Hilux which are meant for the rapid response arm of the multiagency Operation Harmony.

​“We are donating vehicles to the security agencies to fortify their work. We did that last year and later this year we will be adding more vehicles,” he said.

​“It is a continuous exercise. The federal government is doing a lot and this is our own little way to support what the central government is doing. We use this opportunity to thank the security agencies for what they are doing for us to sleep at night while they do what they need to do.

​“This situation in Kwara is much better than most states and we want them to keep that. So, we need to support them to make sure they keep the peace in Kwara.”

​The Governor said Kwara has become increasingly peaceful while people are finding safe haven, adding: “We do appreciate what all our security agencies are doing. This is another block in the building of strong security architecture in the state.”

​Commissioner of Police Mohammed Bagega, for his part, commended the state government for its continuous support to security agencies in the state.

​“On behalf of other security agencies in the state, I want to express our sincere gratitude for the tremendous assistance the government has been rendering to us in the state. I want to assure you that the vehicles will be used for the intended purposes,” Bagega added.

​Meanwhile, public affair analyst in Ilorin Gideon Amudipewho shared his views on the issue in Ilorin stressed the need to find out those behind kidnapping in the state, “get them arrested, deal with them in accordance with the law.” He said.

​Amudipe who stressed the need for a biometric system to identify the true citizen also called on the government to engage the youths through the creation of jobs to keep them busy.

​Also, Close Circuit Television CCTV expert in Ilorin, Paul Adebayo who stressed the need for community policing called on the government to partner with the community for intelligence gathering and to imbibe the use of modern technology to fight crimes in the state.

​Meanwhile, the state Commissioner of Communications, Olabode Towoju has expressed the state government commitment in tackling security challenges in the state.

​Towoju who stated this at a personality news programmetagged ‘Newskeg’ at the secretariat of the Correspondents’ Chapel of NUJ, Muritala Mohammed Road, Ilorin  said the state government is doing a lot in the area of security adding that not all the efforts of the government in that sector can be disclosed to the public.

​“You remember in a couple of days ago we had a security challenge at Obo-Aiyegunle axis and His Excellency, quickly gave a marching order and serious searching is ongoing to apprehend the criminals terrorizing the people of that area and you could also recall that the notorious criminal ‘Dogo’ who had caused mayhem not only in Kwara but Niger, Ekiti and Kogi too was sent to the world beyond here in Kwara state. We are seriously up and doing in the area of security”.

​With the reported cases of Kidnapping in Kwara state, the government and security agents should continue to  intensify efforts in tackling menace of  insecurity challenges in the state with vigorous efforts as the citizens should as well partner with relevant agencies through intelligence gathering in curbing crimes in the state.

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