FG deploys troops to tackle bandits, others in Ekiti

APC chieftain wants Tinubu to rejig cabinet over insecurity
Disturbed by the resurgence of kidnapping activities, the Federal Government, yesterday, deployed a detachment of military personnel to Ekiti State to checkmate the activities of kidnappers, bandits and other criminals.

Commander of the 32 Artillery Brigade, Akure, Brig.-Gen. John Lar, who spoke while addressing the soldiers at the Fajuyi Pavilion in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, said the soldiers were deployed to Ekiti State to flush out criminals tormenting the state.

Lar said they would comb the nooks and crannies of Ekiti State and all the adjourning states, saying that there would be no hiding place for the criminals.

He said: “There will be no night and day as the soldiers are expected to clear the bushes within 24 hours. We just came now, and we are starting immediately.”

In his remarks, Special Adviser to Ekiti State Governor on Security, Brig.-Gen. Ebenezer Ogundana (rtd), said that the soldiers had been directed by the Chief of Army Staff to provide enough security and also beef up the existing troops in the state.

He said the soldiers would make sure all the criminals are flush out in their hideouts in the forests that are already occupied by the bandits and terrorists across the borders of Kogi, Kwara, Osun and Ondo states.

According to him, Ekiti State has been a peaceful state “but suddenly from nowhere, sad experiences and things that we have not experienced before started happening.

“With the soldiers around, I can assure our people that they can sleep and close their eyes,” he said.

Ogundana welcomed the troops to Ekiti State on behalf of Governor Biodun Oyebanji, saying that the deployment of the troops followed the recent visit of the governor to various heads of security agencies in Abuja after the killings of two traditional rulers and abduction of school children and the teachers of the Apostolic Faith Group of School in Emure-Ekiti.

MEANWHILE, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Muritala Audu, has called for a strategic reshuffling of the Federal Government’s cabinet to address the rising challenges of banditry and insurgency in Nigeria.

Audu, the Aare Atunluse Omoluwabi Oodua Worldwide, in a statement in Lagos, said the immediate past Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, seemed to have some solutions to tackling insecurity.

The APC chieftain, while recommending Bello for the crucial position of Minister of Defence, said the former two-term governor had exceptional track records and unwavering determination in tackling security issues.

Audu said that Bello had showcased remarkable leadership in significantly reducing criminal activities in Kogi State.