Oyo state governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, has mandated the new Commissioner of Police in the state, Abiodun Odude, to rid the state of miscreants, especially those parading themselves as land owners or land grabbers, popularly called Omo Onile.
Ajimobi, who gave this charge in his office on Thursday, when the new police commissioner visited, decried instances where the miscreants stopped contractors handling different road projects in the state until they collected “omo onile” charges.
“We started our administration in 2011 by putting security at the top of our priorities because the foundation of development in any society is peace and security.
“But, I understand, for instance, that government awarded some road projects, contractors had started work and some miscreants were disturbing the contractors, calling themselves Omo Onile asking them to pay some fees, before work could continue.”
“The police should go ahead and arrest such miscreants. How can people stop government from constructing roads? They cannot stop our contractors from working. The police must nip such issues in the bud,” Ajimobi said.
Ajimobi further charged the police to also carry out internal cleansing to flush out bad eggs who collude with miscreants and criminals who terrorise the state.
Odude, in his remarks, stated that the police had arrested seven kidnappers, 19 armed robbers and recovered seven vehicles, in one week.
He noted that some of the armed robbers were arrested in Oyo, Kwara and Rivers states.
and then