Oyo State Government has assured residents of security of lives and property in every part of the State, saying it will spare no cost to secure the people and spare no effort to make the State uncomfortable for criminally-minded elements.
The Government stated this on Wednesday at the Expanded Security Council Meeting presided over by Governor Seyi Makinde.
Briefing newsmen at the end of the meeting which had some State Executive Council members, service commanders, local government chairmen and traditional rulers in attendance, Fatai Owoseni, retired Police Commissioner and the Special Adviser to Oyo State Governor on Security, reassured residents of the State that the Government would continue to adequately secure lives and property irrespective of the security challenges in the country.
Owoseni noted that the State would continue to collaborate and partner with non-state actors towards achieving an integrated security architecture in the State.
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He added that despite the challenges of crime and criminality in the country, the Oyo State Government had been rising to the occasion in tackling the challenges by ensuring that patrol teams are located in strategic places.
Stating that the Government had put in place a number of measures to make the State too hot for criminals, which include joint visibility patrols, added that the State had also activated swift deployment squads.
While assuring that Oyo State is not under any threat of banditry, he added that all areas identified as flash points would be thoroughly cleared and rid of criminality, stressing that the state would not allow criminal elements to have the last laugh.
According to the Special Adviser, the State, in conjunction with the military, is currently combing the Old Oyo National Park, which is a forest that stretches from Oyo State to Kwara and Niger States, to guard against the space being taken over by bandits and terrorists.
Expatiating on the collaboration between the State Government and non-state actors to secure the State, Owoseni said: “With regards to non-state actors, we have been doing this for a while. It is really a form of partnership between the government and some sectors to secure the state. It is integrating non-state actors into the state’s security architecture. That is basically what Oyo State has adopted. We have an integrated security architecture, where the non-state actors are properly integrated into our architecture.
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“I will cite the example of Ibadan, where we have the Mogajis Initiative, which His Imperial Majesty, the Olubadan of Ibadanland, chairs and coordinates. Each of the Mogajis coordinates these non-state actors in his domain, and that is also being done in other parts of the state.
“Similarly, the local governments are championing what we call the voluntary policing sector. We started this like almost three years ago, when the local government chairman used the neighbourhood watch initiatives and put them under what we call the voluntary policing sector.
“By the way, also, the fringes of Oyo State are shared boundaries. We have been engaging our neighbouring states for a while with a view to securing our borders. There is an initiative on security between Oyo and Ogun states, but Lagos and Osun states have joined that initiative. We held a meeting about two weeks ago to put up strategies on how to secure our shared boundaries. Of course, we are looking forward to a situation whereby we will bring a state like Kwara into the fold as well.”
