Insecurity: Makinde, Abiodun Hold Meeting, To Set Up Joint Security Committee, Patrol Team
Governor of Oyo State, ‘Seyi Makinde has vowed to work hand in hand with his Ogun State counterpart, Prince Dapo Abiodun, to end banditry and kidnapping in boundaries shared by the two states, as the two states held an inaugural joint security meeting in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
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The two governors, who first spoke while flagging off the joint meeting, emphasised the centrality of security to the achievement of socio-economic development.
Governor Makinde, while speaking at the meeting held at the Presidential Lodge, Ibara, Abeokuta, Ogun State, maintained that the two states decided to initiate the collaborative effort because of the growing rate of crimes such as kidnapping and banditry.
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A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor of Oyo State, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, quoted Governor Makinde as saying that “we came here to initiate a collaborative effort between our two states because it is the right thing to do and absolutely important we do it. In recent times, we have seen cases of kidnapping. So, if it is not a big concern to the leadership of the two states, then we won’t be here also with our service commanders because we have quite a bit to do.
“My brother and I have an absolute commitment to the security of lives and property within the two states. We have experiences across the states and what this meeting will do for us is to be able to share these experiences and look at those decisions we can take jointly to improve the security situation in our states.”
The statement maintained that at the end of the meeting, the two states resolved to tackle insecurity challenges including crimes such as kidnapping, banditry, fraud and ritual killings, among others, frontally by setting up a high-level joint security committee to oversee security matters along the boundary communities in the two states.
The meeting equally agreed to set up a Joint Border Security Task Force with membership drawn from various security agencies in each state, to patrol boundary communities and ensure security of lives and property for residents and commuters.
It equally resolved that members of the task force would be trained and oriented on the rule of engagement to prevent unwholesome practices, adding that collaboration on emergencies/distress calls on the highways in the two states, intelligence-gathering and sharing on security issues, and effective engagement and collaboration with all stakeholders including the Federal Government will also come with the joint security effort.
Speaking at the meeting, Governor Makinde, who maintained that he is a believer in structural reform in the security, politics and economy of the nation, commended Abiodun for the infrastructural drive that is connecting cities with the state.
He noted, however, that the two states and the South-West zone must begin to think about how to connect major cities across all the states so that the zone could become a corridor of development.
He said: “I am a believer of structural reform not just only in the security area but in our polity and economy. When I was coming and drove on that 44km road, the interchange, I told my brother that, yes, we are connecting cities within our state but we must now think beyond that. We must start thinking of how to connect major cities within our states so that when we look at the south-west zone, we see it as a corridor for development. He agreed with me 100 per cent because we have seen it in other places.
“I saw the estate midway between the interchange and here and people have already been moving in there. So, if one can stay there and work in Lagos or Ibadan or Abeokuta, that is how we create a development corridor. And then, there is a lot of nexus between crime and criminality and economic development. That is what we need to do, because a lot of youths will…That is the only way we can see a drop in criminal activities.
“I believe in state police but we are not able to get that at this point in time because of the constitutional hurdles we have to pass through. We all aligned to get the Amotekun in all the states in South-West and I am glad that Ogun State is now operationalising it.
“I am happy that this is not about partisan politics. My brother is from the APC and I am from PDP. We are having security issues along our common borders. We have had two PDP governors in this state and I did not see anywhere where they had this kind of collaboration. Again, two APC governors were in both states and could not achieve anything. Today, we have APC and PDP governors and we are here to collaborate, and at the end of this Technical Session, what we hope to achieve is a long-lasting solution that will benefit the good people of both states.
“We won’t be able to do it without everyone that is in this room including the
