Osun State Governor Adegboyega Oyetola has advocated a technology-based approach in the fight against insecurity.
He urged the security agencies to adopt new thinking that will galvanise optimum results and set the country on the path of peace, unity, progress, and prosperity.
Oyetola spoke yesterday during the 2019 National Security Conference and Public Lecture, organised by the Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) of Osun State Police Command in Osogbo.
Oyetola, who spoke on the theme of the conference, “Kidnapping and banditry: Understanding the twin menace,” said winning the war against kidnapping and banditry requires a deep understanding of the history of insecurity vis-a-vis the forms of crime, causes, threats, strategies for containment and eradication.
He said the security agencies must begin to appraise the successes and failures so far and weaving a workable strategy around them in a bid to stem the tide and rid the nation off the menace.
According to the governor, kidnapping and banditry are unarguably two dreaded monsters, adding that both crimes are fallouts, in the main, of real or perceived injustice in the nation accentuated by youth unemployment and poor economy.
Oyetola, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prince Wole Oyebamiji, said the dire security situation in the country has become a national issue that must be tackled squarely without ethnic or religious inclinations.
He said kidnapping and banditry have constituted a menace to Nigeria’s national and corporate image, thus posing a threat to people’s personal safety and business.
The governor said: “We must understand as a people and as a government that kidnappers and bandits are our common enemies who are waging a war against us.
“Security experts contend that war is fought and won on the altar of strategy. We require strategic and creative thinking and employment of technology to win this war.
“Security must be well-funded and security agencies must be provided with state-of-the-art arms that are superior to what the bandits use to secure all of us.
“For our intervention to be successful, we need to bridge the gap between planning and implementation. We must change our perception by seeing kidnapping and banditry as crimes and treat them as such.
“Perpetrators must be prosecuted and brought to justice. Giving any crime for that matter ethnic toga weakens the war against crime and gives more arsenals to our common enemies to continue to terrorize us”.
The governor called for a collaborative effort among the stakeholders, saying the dire security situation in the country requires a meaningful contribution of all.
He said his administration has been working assiduously to keep the state safe and sustain its status as one of the peaceful and safest states in Nigeria.
Oyetola held that his administration will spare no effort to continuously safeguard the state and her people, guarantee the security of lives and property of the citizenry and as well ensure the welfare of all.
“Part of the proactive approach that our government adopted in frontally tackling the security threat is to meet with security stakeholders in Osogbo and Ilesa to galvanise the people behind our plans.
“Governors in the Southwest states have held a security summit which took the decision to work in concert against the security challenge. A follow-up meeting to examine the approach was held in Akure last weekend.
“The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari, met on Tuesday here in Osogbo with our traditional rulers to perfect the plans against banditry.
“Apart from the collaboration with neighboring states, we have mobilised vigilance groups and local hunters to police the flashpoints and other parts of the state.
“I have visited mining sites to assess the security situation there and the extent of environmental degradation. Following wide consultations, I have the full support of all the security agencies for our security plans.”
Chairman, Osun State Chapter of the Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC), Amitolu said the program was organised to reawaken the people’s consciousness to security in the country.
Shittu said the theme of the conference, “Kidnapping and Banditry: Understanding the Twin Menace” was carefully chosen to address and find workable solutions to security challenges confronting the state and Nigeria as a whole.
The guest speaker, Mr. Segun Fanu, identified a lack of institutional capacity, loss of communal values, weak security system, unemployment, and poverty among others as reasons for kidnapping and banditry in the country.
The Speaker, Osun State House of Assembly, Hon. Timothy Owoeye advocated community policing as a panacea to insecurity in the country.