What we did to fight insecurity in Ibarapa, Oke-Ogun —Oyo govt

The Oyo State Government on Tuesday declared that contrary to the dismal picture being painted by the opposition in the state on issues bordering on security especially in Oke-Ogun zone of the state, the current administration in the state, led by Engr Seyi Makinde, has done a lot to ensure that it keeps its promise on securing lives and properties of people in the state.

The Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Taiwo Adisa, stated that it is unpatriotic for the opposition to play politics with the insecurity situation in Ibarapa and Oke-Ogun parts of the state when the efforts of the government are obvious, declaring the action as a result of pettiness, contempt and a clear attempt to play to the gallery.

According to Adisa, the governor had at the height of the insecurity in Ibarapa, deployed Operation Burst, a state-backed security outfit comprising of the Army, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the Police to Ibarapa in large numbers and had also effected the deployment of officers of MOPOL 72 who are strategically located in Ago-Are, the Oke-Ogun axis.

This he said, the government followed up with the mass deployment of men of the Oyo State Security Network Agency, Amotekun, to Ibarapa and Oke-Ogun to curb the issue of rising insecurity, adding that this mass deployment of security operatives to the area had begun to yield positive results in the last few weeks.

Adisa reiterated that on January 9, the Amotekun Corps worked with Vigilante Group of Nigeria, local hunters and the Miyetti Allah Vigilantes to comb the forests surrounding four local governments in Ibarapa and Iwajowa Local Government Areas of Oke-Ogun, adding that as a fallout of the joint exercise which was abruptly called off due to the massive deployment of fake news, the teams neutralized suspected kidnappers and criminals in Ayete area, while a number of the suspects were arrested and handed over to the police.

“Apart from initiating several peace meetings between Yoruba and Fulani residents in the areas, the government took steps to deploy a heavy security presence to Ibarapa and at a point, even backed a community-based effort to rid the forests of kidnappers and bandits. It would be recalled that the government had backed a similar approach in Kisi, Igbeti and Igboho axes of the state and was able to achieve great success without necessarily making noise in the media about it,” Adisa stated.

Adisa emphasised that the opposition has intentionally decided to turn blind eyes to the efforts of government, highlighting statements credited to the Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr Sunday Dare and some leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as an attempt to pass the buck on insecurity to Governor Makinde “when it was obvious that the lack of action and apparent dereliction of duty by the APC-led Federal Government brought the entire country to its knees security-wise.

“The narrative being carved by the opposition suggesting that Makinde had been idling away is baseless and reckless. The fact that the Makinde administration has not been engaging in showmanship on efforts to tame insecurity should be taken as doing nothing. We have noted with concern the fickle-mindedness being demonstrated by opposition elements in Oyo State especially individuals like the Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr Sunday Dare.

“It is sad that such an individual serving in a government under whose watch the security system of the country has collapsed could turn around to point fingers at Makinde. While one would not have loved to join issues with Dare and other individuals whose desperation for relevance can make them stop at nothing, including setting their own state on fire, it becomes imperative to correct the erroneous statement that Governor Makinde is being cowed by fear in the handling of state matters.

“It is unwise and completely unwarranted for Dare to fail to tell the world what positive thing he, as a member of the Federal Executive Council, has contributed to assisting the state in its battles against insecurity. The state of affairs security-wise in virtually all geopolitical zones of the country has exposed the failure of Dare’s boss and that’s a reality no Nigerian can deny,” Adisa said.

Adisa concluded that if the opposition were true lovers of the state, they should have used the occasion to demonstrate patriotism by empathising with the people of the state and coming up with their own ideas on how to address the situation rather than merely playing to the gallery which only showcases them as ordinary politicians who do not think about the state but solely about the next election.

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