* We have deployed patrol teams, Oyo CP assures
Influential Yoruba group – Afenifere – on Wednesday, decried the level of insecurity in Nigeria, pointing out that the kidnapping of seven persons on Lagos/Ibadan Expressway on Sunday, is another evidence that governments in the country have failed in their primary roles of providing security and welfare for the people.
Some people were reportedly kidnapped last Sunday at Onigaari Village on Lagos/Ibadan Expressway even though some travelers, including an actress, narrowly escaped being kidnapped on the same road the day before.
Afenifere expressed the concern through a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, recalling the incessant kidnapping of and attacks on innocent persons in Ondo, Ogun, Osun and Ekiti states, among others. It thus declared that such attacks are unacceptable, and must be stopped forthwith by all means.
“We recall the incessant kidnapping of and attacks on innocent people in Ondo, Ogun, Osun and Ekiti states. We also recall the sacking of certain villages in the Imeko area of Ogun State last week.
“These are unacceptable and must be stopped forthwith by all means,” the pan- Yoruba group said.
Afenifere, while condemning the act, said lamentations by the governors of Niger, Zamfara, Benue, Nassarawa, Borno, Kaduna, Sokoto and Katsina states on how terrorists seem to be on rampage in their areas ought to serve as a wake-up call for the governments and the security agencies.
Meanwhile, the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Ngozi Onadeko, has disclosed the deployment of anti-kidnapping squad and tactical teams to patrol and keep the road safe for travelers.
“We have deployed Anti-Kidnapping Squad and other tactical teams to the area. And we have been working in concert with adjoining command in Ogun State,” she said.
She also added: “We will make the way safe and secure to our humanly possible best, for them to have free and safe ride between Lagos and Ibadan.
“Even at that, I still come out at night to check that they (police operatives) are there and doing what they are supposed to do. We believe that seeing us more on the road will allay people’s fears. Patrolling is not in the daytime only. It’s done at night.”