THE Federal government has promised to arrest and bring to justice all those behind last Thursday armed robbery and killings in the ancient town of Offa, Kwara state to discourage persistent attack in the area.
Speaking during a condolence visit to the state on Sunday, the minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Muhammed, who visited Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed and Olofa of Offa, Oba Mufutau Gbadamosi, said that the Inspector General of Police had promised to deploy armoured personnel carriers that would be stationed in Offa to prevent future occurrence.
The minister also said that the Federal government would continue to improve on its security provisions that would ensure adequate safety for all and sundry.
He, however, said that the state and the entire public must learn from ‘‘the mistakes’’ of the incident with a view to improving on security architecture of the entire country.
‘‘What happened in Offa on Thursday shocked the entire nation and it’s our prayers that the souls of all the victims will rest in peace and also that those badly injured would be healed and recover very soon.
‘‘I want to take this opportunity to also let you know that the entire country is grieving and the entire country is sympathising with Kwara state and the entire people of Offa.
‘‘But there is also a silver light, despite the losses of the police, it is quite heart-warming to know that some of the suspects have been arrested.
‘‘I spoke yesterday with the IG and he assured me that all the people responsible for the dastardly act would be arrested and brought to justice.
‘‘I hope also that we are all going to learn from the mistakes both the larger public and everybody and we are going to factor this into the larger security architecture in a manner that we will have a much more secured and safe state country’’, he said.
The Minister also urged residents of Offa to be more security conscious now more than ever and report suspicious person(s) among them to the appropriate security office.
Also speaking, Governor Abdulfatha Ahmed thanked the ‘‘presidency for its intervention so far.’’
ALSO READ:Â How robbers shot pregnant woman, son, others inside bank
He particularly expressed delight with the promise made by Inspector General of Police to deploy an armoured personnel carrier that will be stationed specifically in Offa to prevent future occurrence.
He described the level of the crime perpetrated as “unexpected,” a situation which he said was an indication that the country was in a “challenging situation.”
The governor said government at this time must accept the fact that the nation was going through challenging time and redouble efforts towards improving on her security architecture saying ‘‘this is not the time for blame game.”
He advocated for effective community policing and improved synergy through effective communication particularly between the military and the police.
The governor said that effective collaborations among the security agencies would ‎no doubt result in effective security for the people.
The Olofa of Offa, Oba Mufutau Gbadamosi, expressed concern that with the latest attacks on banks in Offa, there is no bank operation in the entire Kwara south senatorial district.
The monarch therefore urged the federal government to provide two Armoured Personnel Carriers,One in Offa and the other in Ajase-ipo headquarters of Kwara south to beef up adequate security in the area.
Olofa also urged stakeholders to ensure that all needed supports were given to banks to return operations in Offa and the entire Kwara South, saying that doing banking transactions in Ilorin from Offa and the affected areas would be most difficult.
He also called for an increase in police officers posted to Kwara, especially Offa, saying that the armed bandits operated for over two hours unchecked a development he said was very unfortunate.
He, however, commended the efforts of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed who had approved the construction of a bigger police station in ‎Offa, while the only bigger one attacked in Owode area would now serve as an outpost station.
and then