Governor ‘Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has declared that his government will do everything possible to end kidnapping and insecurity in the state by working with all security agencies including the newly-introduced Oyo State Security Network Agency also known as Amotekun Corps.
The governor maintained that the safety and security of all residents of the state remained a top priority for his government, adding that his administration would work relentlessly to tackle cases of kidnapping and insecurity.
Governor Makinde, who appreciated all heads of security agencies for doing their best to secure the state, explained that the government was already setting up proper information channels for security agencies in the state in order for them to keep the information flow simple.
A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, indicated that the governor stated these while briefing newsmen at the Government House, Agodi, Ibadan, on Wednesday, adding that the government would go ahead to implement the N500 million MSME fund and employment of 5,000 young persons into government agencies as well as the engagement of youths into direct labour schemes to tackle youth restiveness in the state.
He said: “The safety and security of all residents of Oyo State remain our top priority. We will continue to work relentlessly to tackle cases of kidnapping and insecurity in our state.
“We are also putting in place other policies to address insecurity, especially with regards to youth restiveness. Last year, after the ENDSARS protests, we talked about three things that we will be doing to reduce youth unemployment and improve the security situation in the state.
“We talked about the N500 million MSME fund that we will set up, employment opportunities for 5,000 young persons across all government agencies and the provision for the direct labour agency. We could not do all of these towards the end of last year because we had budgetary constraints. But now, we have put these schemes in this year’s budget and we should be implementing them as scheduled this year.”
Governor Makinde, who warned that some individuals who wanted Amotekun to fail had been assailing it with all sorts of misinformation and fake news, maintained that the community policing model remained the only way to solve the insecurity challenge in the country.
He stated that the state would not sit idly and watch any Amotekun operative operate outside the ambitions of the law and that it would also not yield to blackmail against the new agency.
He added that the state had identified that there was presently some friction between the Amotekun and Nigerian Police in the state, adding that the state would set up a committee to iron out the frosty relationship between the two institutions and bring about an alignment in their operations.
