The Ekiti Parapo Renaissance Movement (EPRM), a group made up of youths from the 16 local government areas of Ekiti State, has condemned the killing of two traditional leaders, the Elesun of Esun Ekiti and Onimojo of Imojo Ekiti, who were shot dead on Monday by suspected bandits.
The traditional rulers were attacked alongside the Alara of Ara Ekiti, Oba Adebayo Fatoba, who, however, escaped death.
They were said to be travelling on the Oke-Ako Road in the Ikole local government area in a car driven by Alara on their way back from a security meeting at Irele Ekiti.
The attackers were said to have taken their belongings and dragged their bodies into the bush.
Also on Monday, some schoolchildren were reportedly kidnapped in Eporo Ekiti, Emure LGA, as the armed men ambushed a school bus.
Rising from an emergency meeting Tuesday morning at the Spring View Hotel, Ado Ekiti, EPRM condemned the killing of the traditional rulers and the abduction of schoolchildren in their state.
In a statement signed by its national president, Comrade Oladapo Bamidele Tosin, EPRM said it was getting by the day that because of insufficient manpower and other logistics constraints, the various security agencies in the country are overwhelmed by the many sponsored terror groups attacking different parts of Nigeria, especially south-west Nigeria.
Bamidele Tosin said that in the interim, the only visible solution to the worsening insecurity in Nigeria is the deployment of hunters into the forests, farms, and bushes across the country, and that the personnel to be so deployed should be indigenes of the communities who should know the local terrains.
He, therefore, called on President Bola Tinubu to, as a matter of urgency, sign the Nigeria Hunters and Forest Security Service (NHFSS) Bill into law and sought the intervention of the Ooni of Ife, His Royal Majesty, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, to lead other traditional rulers, especially from the South West, on a mission to accomplish it, as according to him, that would be the best way to secure their communities.
He also alleged that those sponsoring terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, and other nefarious activities, as well as those benefiting from them, are resisting the signing of the NHFSS Bill into law, saying the enemies of Nigeria are afraid that their evil business would end if hunters were empowered and unleashed to secure forests, bushes, and farms across the country.
He said, “Rising from an emergency meeting this morning, which centred on the killing on Monday of two of our most respected monarchs, the Elesun of Esun Ekiti and Onimojo of Imojo Ekiti, who were shot dead by suspected herdsmen, as well as the abduction of innocent schoolchildren from a local school in Ekiti State, we hereby condemn, in strong terms, these killings and abductions in the south-west of Nigeria, especially in Ekiti State.
“We call on the federal government, through the various security agencies, to, as a matter of urgency, rescue the innocent pupils and to go after the killers of our traditional rulers, apprehend them, and bring them to book.
“We also seize this opportunity of mourning in Ekiti State to call on the Yoruba people of the South West to rise up to the occasion and protect our motherland. Our leaders, governors, senators, representatives, and traditional rulers should provide leadership and save our people through improved security measures.”
According to EPRM, various reports from the Nigeria Police, the Army, Civil Defence, and other security agencies have it that over 90 per cent of those abducting, raping, and killing people in the South West are from outside the region. It therefore means that an indigenous approach to security is the answer to the challenge.
“As it stands, the only solution we can see is to employ and empower young men and women from each community to secure their local areas. This is because it is only the people in the community who understand their terrain and can identify the criminals among them. That way, it would be easy to identify strangers and criminals.
“In appreciation of those facts, we are in support of the President’s position to set up a peculiar agency that would specialise in fighting crimes that are planned and executed within and around forests, farms, and bushes.
“We believe that when that bill is signed into law, the organisation is expected to recruit personnel from local communities to secure their area and their states.
“Apart from helping to tackle insecurity, the engagement of these young people would engender massive employment, which in itself is one of the best means to tackle crimes.
“It is on that note that we call on His Royal Majesty, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ife, and other traditional rulers in the country to rally around and support the signing of the NHFSS Bill into law, as that would be the best way to secure their communities,” EPRM stated.
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