Insecurity: What Yoruba leaders discussed with Buhari – Ooni of Ife

The Nigerian government has ‘agreed’ to allow state governors in the South-west employ community policing strategies to curb the rising spate of insecurity in the region, the Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, said on Wednesday.

The monarch said this after he led some leaders of the region to a closed door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa on Wednesday.

This is his second meeting with the president within a month.

Channels Television reported that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the Inspector-General of Police were also at the meeting.

Briefing State House correspondents shortly after the meeting, the monarch said they discussed with Mr Buhari how community policing will be used in the region.

“The policemen will be recruited from the community. Those that were born there, brought up there and they won’t be able to move them around.

“We believe that with all these there will be reduction in the tension in the South-west because the South-west is very sensitive in Nigeria.

”We don’t pray for crisis or war or uprising because it will snowball into a lot of things, that is why we are all represented from the six states that make up South-western Nigeria. We thank God that Mr President is listening and so far so good, we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.”

He also said the meeting adopted several technology-based approaches to tackle insecurity in the region.

He said they agreed with the president that modern technology such as drones will be deployed in the region to “fast track very rapid monitoring of our forests”.

He said various security agencies will rally round the IGP and “see how it can be properly deployed”.

The traditional ruler also said they agreed that CCTVs will be installed in the highways.

“Another thing is that they will install CCTV along our highways, the IGP said they are very aggressive about clearing our highways now.”

Mounting tension

Nigeria is growing increasingly tense over killings, armed robbery and kidnappings recorded daily across the country.

No fewer than 500 persons were either killed or kidnapped in parts of the country between June and July, a PREMIUM TIMES security analysis showed.

The killing of Funke Olakunrin, a 58-year-old daughter of Yoruba leader, Reuben Fasoranti, was one of the recent violent crimes that sparked outrage in the South-west region.