Kidnappings: Government, Communities Must Invest In Technology, Intelligence – Kayode Ojo

Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Engineer Kayode Ojo has said that the government as well as communities must invest in technology and intelligence, in order to curb the growing menace of kidnappings and banditry in Nigeria.

Engineer Ojo, a former gubernatorial aspirant gave this advice after visiting the Palaces of the late Onimojo of Imojo Ekiti and the Elesun of Esun-Ekiti respectively who were killed by kidnappers. 

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The APC stalwart commiserated with the people of the communities and  their immediate families over the unfortunate incidents. 

Engineer Ojo described the late monarchs as his fathers and close associates. He recalled with nostalgia, how he used to relate with monarchs whenever they visited Lagos with other colleagues traditional rulers in Ekiti.

Paying tributes to the slain monarchs, Ojo described their killings as great loss to their communities and Ekiti State, praying to God to give them the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

The APC chieftain while commiserating with the people of Esun-Ekiti, also  prayed to God to expose the criminal elements in Ekiti and their collaborators. 

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While calling on government and communities to be proactive on the issue concerning security, Ojo maintained that only collaborative efforts can defeat kidnappings and banditry in our society. 

Speaking at the sidelines of the visits, Ojo urged government to invest more in technology.

He equally admonished the government to address the challenge of joblessness and injustices in the land, stressing that the Nation is in a complex situation. 

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“That’s really a complex situation now. For the joblessness we are talking about over the years, politics has taken over everything, especially in Ekiti. People now see politics as the fastest means to accumulate wealth. Many of our youths don’t want to go to farm or engage in any profitable venture. All they are interested in, is to get one political office or the other, and get their National cake as previous leaders had done. Until our youths stop seeing dignity in other peoples’ labour, these menace may not end”, he declared. 

According to him , “anywhere, you are having recurrent insecurity, that means ,there is the need for  scanning (aerial surveillance). You have the infantry troops on the ground to flush out the criminals from their hideouts. Then, you also have the “Holding Troops” that would stay behind after you must have cleared the surrounding  bushes. There are a couple of activities that can be done to forestall further kidnappings and killings in Ekiti. I am not the  government, I can only give advice. Again Security is not cheap, the government must spend more because security is expensive. 

“I know that most communities now live at the mercy of these marauders and criminal elements because they have high grade weapons. They are even more equipped than some of our security operatives. I have seen videos where some of these criminal elements even use General Purpose Machine Guns and the communities are not licensed to carry weapons. So they are at the mercy of these hoodlums.

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Giving specific advice, Ojo said “my advice to each community in Ekiti, is to have a security Committee, so that they can have outposts. Those manning these outposts would raised alarm whenever they see any suspicious movement or strange face in the neighbourhood. It is part of my mantra on Security that, if you see something; say something. We need to educate and enlighten our people to always do that. And the information will be sent to all relevant security agencies. With that, I think, we can nip a few of these issues in the bud before they rear their ugly heads. So, these are things I feel they could do now, since the communities do not have their Army or Police”, he ended.

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