Alaafin sad over Igangan killings, arson

The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, says he is saddened by the killings on Sunday of innocent and defenseless people of Igangan in the Ibarapa North local government area of Oyo State by suspected bandits.

Scores of residents of Igangan community were in the early hours of Sunday killed, while several houses including the Palace of Ashi of Igangan was burnt by the bandits.

A statement signed by the monarch’s Director of Media and Publicity, Bode Durojaiye, also described the burning of the Palace of Ashi of Igangan community as a “taboo”.

The first class monarch stated that concerted efforts towards addressing the challenges of peace and security must be taken by the government and relevant stakeholders.

He lamented that Nigeria’s ethnic and religious diversity should serve as a source of national unity, cohesion and integration, but had over the years constituted a serious threat to peace, security and national development.

The royal father urged security agencies to employed native intelligence services in a bid to effectively tackle critical security challenges confronting the country.

“Security of any country is critical for the development, economic prosperity and democratic principles to thrive; hence the critical issue is the way a country deploys its strategic security responses to protect the citizens,” he said.