Oyo State governor, Engr Seyi Makinde has reiterated that the state will continue to support the Nigeria Police.
The commitment was made on Monday when the Acting Inspector General of Police , Mr Kayode Egbetokun, paid a courtesy call to the governor’s office.
While receiving the police boss on behalf of Makinde, the deputy Governor, Alhaji Bayo Lawal, stated that “Oyo state government is ever ready to support the police. In testament of that shortly before the 2023 elections the state government distributed vehicles to the police for effective policing.
“Also about two weeks ago His Excellency Engr Seyi Makinde through the executive council approved the purchase of 105 cars to be equipped with state of the art equipment to be distributed to the police force”
Lawal noted further “We will continue to give our support to the police, the job the police are doing in Oyo State is not for themselves but the people of the state. As we all know without peace and stability there will not be development, the primary function of the government is maintenance of peace and order. Oyo State government under the leadership of Governor Seyi Makinde will continue to give support to the police in order for them to effectively perform their constitutional functions.”
On the present security challenges, Lawal remarked that “Times are challenging in terms of security and maintenance of peace and stability across Nigeria. As we well know, there is no exception, no part of the country is devoid of these challenges, Oyo State is such a big state in terms of land mass and population to the extent that the current police manpower we have is over stretched all the time, we want to appeal to you to assist in giving more hands to the police command in Oyo State.
“As we speak, we have 33 local governments in the state and almost 15 to 20 of these local governments are surrounded by forest. In Oke Ogun we have ten local governments that are surrounded by thick forest, forest reserves in particular and we have two of them, the national and state reserves and around the Ogbomoso corridor too. There are also some local governments even in Ibadan that are surrounded by thick forest which has become a den for criminals.
“The matter is made worse by Illegal mining, which is the main thing in Nigeria today and it is sprouting so fast that there is hardly any local government in Oke Ogun that does not have this problem, illegal mining comes with criminality. There is nowhere you will have illegal mining without criminality. In that respect the police in the state is overstretched. Coupled with kidnapping that is very rampant in some local government areas in the state.”
Lawal, who commended Mr. Hamzat Adebola the state police commissioner, called on the police boss to look into fortifying the manpower needs of the police force in Oyo State command.
The deputy governor reiterated the need for additional Police Mobile Squad (PMS) to complement the one at Ago Are for effective policing of the area
” Now we are aware that we have PMS 72 in Ago Are, why we have that as an outpost of the police we need fortification in terms of equipment for them to be able to traverse the nook and cranny of that particular zone and that is not enough, we will solicit for establishment of one or two more PMS in the State so that criminals will always come within the Police watch, since the state shares border with the Republic of Benin, it is putting a great challenge to PMS 72 and area commands in that zone.”
Lawal also stressed the need for the Lagos- Ibadan Express road to be given more security attention, emphasizing that “We need more effective policing in that area. Needless to say kidnapping, banditry, illegal mining are the real challenges we face in Nigeria of today, we must be proactive, we must be pre-emptive in dealing with all these crimes in our society.”
Earlier in his remarks the Acting Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, said he was in Oyo State, primarily to attend a retreat by retired inspectors general of police. He however noted that ” I can not come to Oyo State without visiting the governor’s office. I have come to say thank you to the state government for the support given to the police in the state. Thank you for your cooperation with our officers deployed here. Without this cooperation they won’t record the successes they are reporting to me in Abuja.”
Egbetokun, who commended the state government for supporting the Oyo State police command, however, asked for more support from the state government.
The IGP also used the occasion of his visit to intimate the Deputy Governor of the new policing direction of his administration.
“I will like to also share the new policing vision with you, which is about emplacing a professionally competent, service-driven, rule of law compliant and people-friendly police force that will support the agenda of government, quick recovery and growth as well as social and political development of our country.
“We are working towards achieving a police force that is so well positioned to adequately and appropriately respond to the dynamics of crimes and criminality in our society.”
He indicated further “We are implementing the community policing strategy already approved by the Federal Government, but now we are reviewing the strategy because we want better results, we are now shifting from community policing into diverse community policing, we want to take into consideration the peculiarities of our society in deploying appropriate methods of policing.”
Egbetokun while seeking more support from the government said, “I appeal to the government to please mobilise the support of the people for the police, at every opportunity help us to sensitise members of the public that when they are helping and supporting the police it is for their own good because the Police are there to serve them and ensure they sleep with their two eyes closed.”
The Secretary to the State Government, Professor Olanike Adeyemo; Commissioner for Information, Prince Dotun Oyelade; and Executive Assistant on Security to the Governor, Rtd Commissioner of Police, Sunday Odukoya, were amongst dignitaries that joined the Deputy Governor in receiving the Acting Inspector General of Police.
Others were the Executive Assistant to the governor on infastructure monitoring, Engr. Mutau Opensalawu, S A on Migration and Homeland Security, Rtd AIC Femi Adegoke, and Rtd Col. Oladipo Ajibola, Commandant, Operation Burst
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