Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State has stated that the various criminal activities of kidnapping, bombing and assault on the people in some parts of the country which are being referred to as banditry must be appropriately addressed as terrorism.
Akeredolu noted that infiltration of the country’s borders and burning down of railway are activities that must be addressed as terrorism and the perpetrators treated as same.
The Governor spoke at the 27th Nigerian Economic Summit held in Abuja with the theme: “Securing Our Future: The Fierce Urgency of Now.”
During the summit, Akeredolu contended that a nation with failed security and justice systems is set to fail.
While lamenting that the dimension of insecurity in the country recently has been surprising, the Governor said he has always believed in multi-level policing as the best way of securing the nation.
“In Ondo State, we don’t have terrorism. Our problem is farmer/herder clashes and kidnap for ransom. We have drug abuse and agitation for self determination. We have always preached multi-level policing in Ondo State. We believe in layers of security,” he said.
Akeredolu, who explained that although there are criminal trespasses which can be treated by the state, stressed that before the Amotekun corps was established, the Police were not always ready to make arrests.