Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, has inaugurated a new security arrangement to safeguard the zone against banditry, terrorism and other forms of criminal activities.
The move by Adams, who is also National Coordinator of Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), was to strengthen the security architecture of the South West, Saturday Sun gathered.
The security arrangement, known as Oodua Dependable Security Team, has been launched in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo and Osun states already, with Ekiti and Ondo the only remaining states in the region.
Investigation revealed that Yoruba indigenes, who are mostly members of OPC, constitute majorly the team in each state, and the arrangement runs through each local government and wards in the four states. As gathered, the same thing would be repeated when the remaining two states are enlisted in the team set up to complement efforts of the government against crimes and criminalities.
The thrust of his addresses at the separate inauguration ceremonies in Lagos, Abeokuta, Ibadan and Osogbo echoed that the era of insecurity in the South West was gone. He also warned terrorists to stay away from the region or face the wrath of the OPC.
He explained that the composition of the dependable security team was an intervention strategy of the OPC to nip the security challenges in the bud across the South West region.
The new security arrangement, he said, became necessary as a result of various cases of insecurity, including rape, killings and kidnapping, which had hindered peace and tranquillity across the region.
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An alarm was raised some weeks ago that terrorists had surrounded and infiltrated the South West and had started using Ondo State as a litmus test to know if their operations would be successful in the entire Yorubaland or not. Several attacks by terrorists have been launched in different states in the region, with Ondo State, recording the highest number, including the attack on a Catholic church in Owo, which claimed scores of lives.
Aare Adams added that the leadership of OPC came up with the new security strategic approach in order to rescue the present situation in the region.
Speaking during the inauguration of the team in Osogbo, Osun State, he said: “We are worried that the security situation in the South West is getting worse by the day. We are worried that peace has eluded us in recent times because of the spate of insecurity across the southwest. It was not like this in the past.
“We had it so good in the past. Our security then was fantastic. Issues of killings and kidnapping for ransom were alien to our tradition in the South West. Our leaders prominently catered for our needs in education, and health, and all the social facilities were available for the people. Those were the legacies of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, when the people of the region could sleep with our eyes open.
“But things have taken a drastic turn today, because politicians of today clearly abandoned their responsibilities and created a huge gap between them and the electorate. It is a fact that, if the situation continues like this, it will definitely consume the entire nation. Nigeria has lost the battle, and I don’t think this country could survive the next two years under these failed security challenges. As a group that has the capacity to defend our region, we consider it pertinent to rise to the occasion by making sure that the South West is safe for all residents.”
In Oyo State, over 200 persons were verified in each of the 33 local government areas and 35 local council development authorities in Oyo State. In the same vein, more than 100 members were also drawn from each of the 69 local government and LCDAs in Osun State.
According to Adams, it is the job of the team “to assist by complementing the efforts of the police and other security agencies in securing the state.”
During the inauguration of the team held in Ibadan, Adams said: “The OPC Dependable Security Team is a child of necessity that was borne out of our desire to secure the South West region against intruders. It is a combination of about 200 members each from each of the 68 local government and LCDAs in Oyo State, and it is just to show the strength of our dependable forces in the state.
“We are using this to send a strong message to the terrorists masquerading as kidnappers and killers and across the South West region. We will resist any attempt to turn Yoruba land into a hub of terrorism. The South West is no longer a home for terrorists.”
Adams said a recent exploit of the OPC Dependable Security Team was along Ijede Road, Ikorodu, Lagos State, when the team intercepted two buses loaded with caches of live cartridges, heading for the North, and were handed over to the police for proper investigation.
“We are beginning to see the results with the Ikorodu experience. It is my belief that the new security arrangements will usher in a moment of peace in the South West. OPC will not relent in its efforts to rid the region of terrorists and their allies.”
Terrorists kill eight vigilantes in Kaduna community, abduct two village heads
Eight vigilante members and two others have been killed by terrorists at Kakangi and Unguwan Matinja communities in the Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The local leaders of Kakangi and Kisaya villages in Kakangi Ward were also abducted.
A resident of the LG, Idris Khalid, confirmed the event, saying the gun-wielding men invaded the villages early Thursday.
Bala Kamba, Abdurrahman Musa (Ubale), Kabiru Dan Dugui, Hambali Abu, Aliyu Abu, Nura Jika (Maleka), Mubarak Musa (Dan Wamba), and Ikra Hantsi were the eight vigilante members killed at Kakangi.
Khalid also revealed that the two victims in the Ungwan Matinja neighbourhood of Gayam Ward were Christopher Abubakar and Isah Gambo.
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He claimed the vigilantes were attacked while tracking down the kidnapped victims, who were abducted on their way to a funeral between Kakangi and Sabon Layi.
“The vigilantes engaged the terrorists, killing scores of them, but could not rescue the two traditional rulers and others.
“Normally, anytime there is a kidnapping incident, the vigilantes always trail the terrorists to rescue the victims.
“It’s unfortunate that in the process, eight gallant officers of the vigilantes who have been sacrificing to ensure the safety of our people were lost,” the resident said.
When contacted, the State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, ASP Mansir Hassan, stated, “We are investigating the matter to determine the true story because the area where the incident occurred had a network problem.”
Repentant Boko Haram members burn NDLEA, Customs checkpoints in Borno
A group of suspected repentant Boko Haram insurgents, on Wednesday stormed the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the Nigeria Customs Service checkpoints at Kasuwan Fara, a suburb of Maiduguri metropolis, chasing away the personnel on duty and setting ablaze all structures at the checkpoints.
The incident, according to security analyst and counter insurgency expert, Zagazola Makama, followed a fierce encounter between the former Boko Haram combatants and the police at the Kasuwan Fara Divisional Police Office.
The suspected repentant insurgents, reportedly wearing military uniform, had pounced on the police office to forcefully set free their eight colleagues arrested at the suburb over criminal activities bordering on dealing in hard drugs.
The arrest was made on April 24 during a raid carried out by the police on the notorious spot at the criminals-ridden Kasuwan Fara.
“Due to the rise and persistence of criminal activities and sinister operations by drug peddlers comprising dismissed military personnel, repentant insurgents and other hoodlums, who assemble there to conduct nefarious activities, the area had since been earmarked for closure by Borno State Government.
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“The April 24 raid, where the eight suspected repentant insurgents were arrested and 426 bottles of spirits such as dry gin confiscated, was conducted to sanitize the area, pending the final closure.
“The arrested persons were detained at the Kasuwan Fara police division since the day of their arrest.
” Subsequently, at about 7:40 am of Thursday, May 2, a dozen of the suspected repentant insurgents in military uniform, stormed the Kasuwan Fara police station in an attempt to rescue their arrested fellows.
” The Divisional Police Officer alongside his men were able to repel the attack while the perpetrators fled.
” Consequently, the assailants, in an apparent transfer of aggression, reverted to attacking NDLEA and NCS personnel checkpoint along the Maiduguri-Gubio road Kasuwan Fara, where they burnt down the checkpoints alongside the sandbags heaped on the road and fled the scene, ” Zagazola Makama said.
Borno Police Command spokesman, ASP Kenneth Daso, who confirmed the incident, said investigations were ongoing to apprehend the attackers, adding that the arrested eight suspects have been handed over to relevant security quarters.
Police identify officer who shot man dead at fuel station
The Police Command in Lagos State has identified the officer who allegedly shot a man dead at a filling station in the Obalende area of the state.
The command’s spokesperson, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the development in a post he shared on his verified X handle@ben Hundeyin on Thursday.
He said that the officer had been identified.
“The person behind the shooting has been identified as a police officer serving at Special Protection Unit (SPU) Base 17, Lion Building, Lagos.
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“Investigation is still ongoing and further findings will be made available, ” he said.
According to Hundeyin, the State Commissioner of Police, CP Adegoke Fayoade is working with the family of the deceased to ensure that there is no miscarriage of justice.
It could be recalled that the deceased, Toheeb Eniasa, was shot dead by a policemam on Wednesday while struggled to buy fuel.
It was learnt that two officers drove into the station to purchase fuel but motorists asked them to join the queue.
In the process, an argument ensured which resulited into a fight and one of the officers shot Eniasa and ran away.
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