The prevalent of kidnapping and ritual killings in Ondo and Ekiti states has not only brought anxiety to residents of the two neighbouring states, but also heightened their nightmare lately. For Ondo and Ekiti, the states once known for their peaceful atmosphere and tranquility, to have suddenly become ‘flashpoints and dens’ for kidnappers and ritual killers, is an indication of failed security architecture and the inability of the governors, the presumed Chief Security Officers of the states, to do the needful and protect their people.
Many people have fallen victims of the nefarious activities of the hoodlums, who have unleashed terror on the people and held the states in the jugular. In one of the unfortunate incidents in December last year, suspected kidnappers who went on a rampage at three different locations in Ondo State, abducted a lecturer, school children and three others, including a couple, leaving blood and sorrow in their trail.
Also, on Akure-Owo-Ikare-Akoko highway, which has become one of the flashpoints, the gunmen invaded and held travellers hostage for several hours, unleashing terror on their hapless victims, while it was similar woes at Ilu-Abo in Akure North Local Government Area and Oba-Akoko on Owo-Ikare Expressway where the victims pay dearly in the hands of the kidnappers who operated freely.
In their trail, a lecturer at the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic in Owo, Michael Olopete, was kidnapped and his relatives were asked to pay a ransom of N30 million to secure his release, while at another time, some students were abducted at Ilu-Abo area of Akure, the Ondo State capital, when the bus in which they were travelling was waylaid and the occupants marched into the thick forest.
Again, a couple, Mr. and Mrs. Bunmi Falodu and a relation were kidnapped at Oba-Akoko while returning from a burial ceremony in Omuo-Ekiti. Not done yet, some kids were seized and whisked away by the kidnappers and, again a lecturer of the Department of Marketing at the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic was kidnapped by herdsmen between Ipele and Owo Road.
Similar misfortune also befell the people of Ekiti State, where kidnappers and killers unabatedly unleashed terror on the people, abducting and killing their victims. For instance, in the kidnappers’ prowl, two lawyers in the state, Mr. Adeola Adebayo, the former Secretary of Ikole branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), was kidnapped on November 17, last year, along Efon-Erio-Aramoko Road, another flashpoint of kidnappers.
Adebayo was killed by his abductors after ransom was paid. Sadly, Adesina Okeya, a lawyer, who was kidnapped a few days after his call to the Bar, was also later found dead. A former commissioner in Ekiti State, Remi Olorunleke and the Director of Administration of Gboyin Local Government Council, Mr. David Jejelowo, were lucky to regain freedom from their abductors, but not without paying ransom.
Given the security laxity, members of Ekiti State branch of NBA had to protest the abduction and killing of their colleagues and petitioned Governor Kayode Fayemi, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Bello Ahmed and the Director of Department of State Services (DSS), Mrs. Precious Ihenacho, suggesting the level of the debasement of the state’s security apparatus.
Confounded with the unchecked spate of kidnapping and the level of insecurity in Ondo State, the state branch of NBA and members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) also took Governor Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) to task by calling on the state government to declare a state of emergency in the state’s security system. We salute the courage of lawyers, ASUU and other stakeholders for their peaceful protest over the spate of kidnapping, armed robbery and killings in the two states, and for accusing the police of not doing enough in terms of securing the people’s lives and properties.
But they should go beyond protest. Lawyers, ASUU, residents and stakeholders must help in the provision of intelligence report to security agencies so as to curb the activities of criminals.
Despite the fact that the state governments have challenged monarchs in the states and vowed to hold them responsible for seemingly security lapses and kidnapping in their domains, the governors must work with the security agencies to tackle the security challenges. The governors must not just fund the police, but must ensure that they secure the lives and property of the citizens.
Provision of adequate security is a major responsibility of any responsive government and not only about provision of infrastructure. The call by Governor Fayemi on the local vigilante groups across Ekiti State to assist government in securing the state is an indictment of the police and other security agencies for failing in their duties to provide the needed security for the people.
The worsened security situation in Ondo and Ekiti of late must be tackled with all efforts required. Specifically, government should rise up to its responsibility of meeting the security needs of the people and to reduce the current nightmare the residents of the states are subjected to. The governors are therefore challenged to beef up security architecture of their states by channelling their monthly security votes to the business of providing adequate security that will be effective enough to guarantee the safety of the people and their property
