Victor EzejaOyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde and his Ogun State counterpart, Prince Dapo Abiodun has held a joint security meeting to fashion out strategies to tackle Banditry, kidnnaping and other forms criminalities happening at their shared boundaries.
In the inaugural joint security meeting held by the two states in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, the two governors emphasised the centrality of security to the achievement of socio-economic development.
Governor Makinde while speaking at the meeting stated that the two states decided to initiate the collaborative effort because of the growing rate of crimes.
A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor of Oyo State, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, quoted Governor Makinde as saying, “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.
“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.”
At the end of the meeting, the two states resolved to tackle security 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.
“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.
He called for collaborative efforts of stakeholders including traditonal rulers, local vigilantes in each of the states to stem the tide of insecurity.
Similarly, the Ogun State Governor, Abiodun, said the joint security meeting is deepened in history, common heritage and cultural affinity, noting that the realisation of the need to put a stop to the recurring challenge of herders/farmers clashes, kidnapping and other nefarious activities around boundary communities in the two states, led to the institution of the collaborative effort.
“This collaboration is peculiar not just because Oyo State is our neighbour, but the largest by land mass of the six South- Western States and the political capital of the Zone. Thus, whatever happens in Oyo State could easily have ripple effects on the other five States.
“No doubt, each of our two states has its peculiar security challenges which the respective State Governments have been tackling through internal security architecture.
“We appreciate the fact that there is no way development in one of our two states will not have a spiral effect on the other state, especially through our border communities.
“With this partnership, between our two states, an enduring peace and security that will promote sustainable economic development that will engender individual prosperity of both our people in Ogun and Oyo States.”
A communique issued at the end of the meeting indicated that there was a resolution to taken some measures to combat the security problems.
The communique read in part: “The meeting agreed to implement the following initiatives in the short term; threat assessment and analysis along the border corridors; deployment of CCTV on the interstate highways; harmonisation and mainstreaming of voluntary police and informal security outfits; timeous and diligent prosecution of criminals to signify the resolve of the governments of both states to clamp down on criminality.”
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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