BY AKINWALE ABOLUWADE, IBADAN
There are mounting criticisms by some opposition political party members as well as other disgruntled members of the public against Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State on the worsening security situation in the state.
In their view, the body language of the governor to killings and security matters in the state had reimbursed the confidence for negative elements to perpetrate evils.
The All Progressives Congress in the state lamented that security and peace, which were among the hallmarks of former Governor Abiola Ajimobi administration, had already been truncated under the Makinde-led government.
The leadership of the proscribed National Union of Road Transport Workers in the state linked the occasional breakdown of law and order evidenced in violent attacks in parts of the city to the appointment of Alhaji Mukaila Lamidi a.k.a Auxiliary, as the chairman of the Park Management System in the state.
Senator Teslim Folarin, who represents Oyo Central senatorial district in the National Assembly, had on Friday, June 18, urged the police to investigate the killings at Oremeji-Agugu and Iwo Road areas of Ibadan and bring the perpetrators to book.
“The latest killings at Oremeji-Agugu and Iwo Road must be investigated by the Nigeria Police, with a view to bringing the perpetrators to book. The excesses of Oyo State Park Management System led by Mukaila Lamidi, popularly known as Auxiliary in recent times are condemnable. Former Governor Abiola Ajimobi bequeathed peace and security to Governor Seyi Makinde-led administration, but things have turned upside down. There is hardly any day without breakdown of law and order. Oyo State has become theatre of violence, killings, kidnapping and all sorts of crimes,” he said.
Apart from gang war, the surge in killings occasioned by robbery had been described as evils too many. In the early hours of Thursday, June 10 at Ojoo area of Ibadan, a final year student of the Department of Music, The Polytechnic, Ibadan, Ebenezer Ayeni, was allegedly killed by armed robbers.
The Police Public Relations Officer of the Oyo State Command, DSP Adewale Osifeso, confirmed his death with an assurance that the police would get to the root of the matter just as the Public Relations Officer of The Polytechnic Ibadan, Alhaji Adewole Soladoye, described Ayeni’s death as a great loss to the institution in particular and the society at large.
Ayeni, who was the President of a Christian fellowship was said to have been shot during a visit to his mother in Ojoo, Ibadan, barely a week to his marriage. The dare devil robbers sniffed life out of him for refusing to lead them to other tenants in the apartment after robbing him of his belongings.
He was reportedly shot in the leg and bled to death after being denied treatment at a private hospital where he was rushed.
Eight days after, fracas erupted at the Iwo Road area of the state; and reportedly led to the death of two people (an NURTW official and one Rahmon Azees, son to a phone seller at the Iwo Road phone market). Governor Makinde, in his Facebook message, described the incident as unwarranted, announcing that he had ordered an investigation into the immediate and remote causes of the incident.
Six persons were reportedly killed in another gang war involving some youths of Inalende, Abebi and Oopo Yiosa areas of Ibadan, on the night of Thursday, June 19.
The clash came on the heels of the mayhem in Iwo Road on Wednesday, June 18. Some youths from Inalende had reportedly killed two people at Oopo Yiosa with the backup of some youths from Abebi, an adjoining street.
A source in the area gave the names of the first two victims simply as Transformer and Ishaja. The source disclosed that the two were killed on Thursday while four others whose identities were yet to be ascertained , were killed midnight of Thursday.
The source said that despite the heavy presence of security personnel in the community, some of the warring youths had vowed to retaliate the killing of members of their gangs.
Although the state Police Command confirmed the mayhem, but did not confirm the exact number of casualties.
At about 10.30pm on Sunday, June 20, some gunmen operating on a motorcycle were reported to have invaded a community called Iyana Court, Ile Titun in Ibadan South-East Local Government Area of Ibadan killing three persons.
It was learnt that a physically challenged man identified as Sodiq, a.k.a Chicken, was the target of the hoodlums.
Sodiq was said to have been among those who were allegedly shot dead. A woman and her daughter who displayed their wares by the roadside lost their lives in the pandemonium. The assailants were said to have escaped through Olomi area.
The PPRO said he would confirm the incident but had yet to do so at the time of filing this report.
Last week Monday, the Police paraded three suspects who were arrested in connection with the mayhem in Iwo Road on Wednesday of the previous week.
Report had it that those paraded were officials of the Park Management System which runs the affairs of motor parks in the state since Governor Seyi Makinde proscribed the state’s NURTW.
While briefing journalists during the parade, the CP, Ngozi Onadeko, stated that the suspects were arrested on the account of their alleged involvement in the mayhem, adding, “Investigation is still ongoing. I will continue to update you about what we get from the investigation.”
The CP, who stated that the police were working round the clock to curb the increasing insecurity in the state capital, appealed to members of the public to support security agencies to achieve this.
One of the suspects, Omoniyi Elemo, declined the allegations labelled against them, saying he didn’t participate in the said attack. Rather, he claimed that he was attacked and injured by some of the phone dealers in Iwo Road on the said day.
Elemo said while he was trying to prevent a driver from obstructing vehicular movement with his vehicle, some boys came out from the Iwo Road Shopping Complex and started beating him. He said that one of the boys hit his face with a stone and was rushed to the hospital from where he was arrested by the police.
A former presenter and On-Air Personality with Naija FM, Titus Badejo, popularly known as Eja Nla, was also killed by gunmen within the period under review. Adebisi, his pregnant widow, was killed by gunmen on Saturday, June 19.
Recall that about this time last year, several cases of killings were recorded within the Ibadan metropolis, one of which was Barakat Bello who was murdered in a mysterious circumstance. The 19-year-old student of the Department of Science Laboratory Technology, Federal College of Animal Health and Production, Moor Plantation, Ibadan, was said to have been raped and killed in Kara area of Akinyele community, Ibadan.
Reports had it that before the city could recover from the shock of the tragedy, a 29-year-old lady called Azeezat Somuyiwa who returned from her husband, Dhikirullahi Somuyiwa, in Kano in February, 2020 was also murdered in cold blood. Alhaji Taiwo Adeyemo, Chairman of the Ijefun Landlord Association, where Azeezat resided, alleged that she was killed with a big stone inside her room.
Governor Seyi Makinde indicated that the security architecture of the state was already being overhauled as a result of the surge in crime in the state.
On Monday, during the inauguration of the Board of the Oyo State Security Network Agency, codenamed Amotekun, the governor assured the people of the state that proactive actions was being taken to up the stake of security in the state.
He said, “In the days ahead, we will let the people of Oyo State know the things we are doing as far as security is concerned. And when they see security operatives all around, they must give them total support. It is not just for the government or governor alone. Everybody needs to come on board and play their own part.”
The governor inaugurated a 12-member security Board with Brig-General Kunle Togun (rtd.) as the chairman and Mrs. Akinbode Enitan as secretary. Other members of the Board include the Amotekun Commandant, Col. Olayinka Olayanju (rtd.); the Commissioner of Police in the state, the state Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Defence Corps, representative of the Armed Forces of Nigeria in the state, and the Executive Secretary, Oyo State Security Trust Fund and Special Adviser on Security, Fatai Owoseni (rtd.).
Others are Commodore Rasaki Babalola representing Oyo South Senatorial District; Mr. Ogunlowo Samson, representing Oyo North Senatorial District; Mrs. Hamzat Ronke, representing Oyo Central Senatorial District; the Onpetu of Ijeru, Oba Sunday Oladapo Oyediran, representing the traditional institution and the Executive Assistant (Security), CP Sunday Odukoya (rtd.).
The governor, who urged the heads of security agencies in the state to provide necessary support, said the Board would pave the way for increased inter-agency relationships, stressing, “Since the passing out of the 1,500 members of Amotekun Corps in November last year, they have been operating under the leadership of General Togun and the Commandant, Colonel Olayanju.
“The law establishing the Oyo State Security and Network Agency codenamed Amotekun Corps to assist in maintaining law and order in the state and for other matters connected therewith, stipulates the establishment of the Governing board in section 7. We want a representative from each of the senatorial districts in Oyo State. Also, we have to get the buy-in of our traditional institution. So, Kabiyesi Onpetu of Ijeru, Oba Sunday Oyediran is on the board.
“We also expect more inter-agency cooperation within the state. Remember that one of the reasons we started the Amotekun Corps is to bring security operatives closer to the people. We were asking for state police and we could not get that because it involves amending the constitution of the country and it is a big task. But while we are waiting for that we believed that we had to move on.
“On many occasions, I have watched videos. The Amotekun Corps are faced with superior fire-power. They are not licensed to carry weapons like AK47 but we see bandits carrying such weapons. But despite the visible challenges that they are faced with, they have been able to fill the gap of local policing successfully. It has been difficult but they have been doing it.”
When the National Union of Road Transport Workers in the state noticed that the governor linked the recent violence to them, they reacted swiftly by distancing the union from the allegations. In a statement by its Deputy General Secretary, Alh. Suleiman Musa, they advised the governor to accept his failings for appointing Auxiliary, who was expelled from the Union way back in 2011 on the allegation of his notoriety, as the chairman of the Park Management System.
The statement read in parts, “The National Union of Road Transport Workers is miffed by the persistent reports linking the union with Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde’s appointed Chairman of the Park Management System, Mukaila Lamidi, popularly called Auxiliary and the Union is once again distancing itself from the atrocities committed by the individual.
“Mukaila Lamidi a.k.a Auxiliary, appointed as Chairman of the park Managers outfit created by the Oyo State governor was expelled from the Union way back in the year 2011 before he was empowered to unleash mayhem on the people of Oyo State under the guise of running parks for the government.
“There is hardly any day without breakdown of law and order. Oyo State has become theatre of violence, killings, kidnapping and all sorts of crimes”
“The constitution of the Union is very clear in dealing with identified dissidents or bad eggs like the expelled appointee of the governor whose conduct, so far, had justified the position of the NURTW that such elements should not be accommodated among peace loving members.”
Recall that the governor had, in a statement made available to journalists in Ibadan on Thursday, by his Chief Press Secretary, Taiwo Adisa, said that perpetrators of the crime shall be brought to book.
The governor’s statement read, “I give you my word that we will ensure that everyone involved in the dastardly act is brought to book.
“I have ordered investigations. In the meantime, we will sanitise the area behind Iwo Road where cultists congregate, and review the Park Management System.”
