• Oyo APC condemns fresh bandit attacks amid purchase of surveillance aircraft
• Igbeti attack: Five terrorists arrested, 120 soldiers deployed, says Oyo govt

Governors of the six South-West states have been urged to fast-track the establishment of state police to strengthen local capacity to tackle kidnapping, armed robbery, banditry and other security threats confronting the region.

The call was made yesterday in Lagos by the Aare-in-Council, an assembly of 48 chiefs of the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, at an emergency meeting convened to review the security situation in the region.

The Council said greater local control of security was necessary to enable security agencies and other relevant groups to respond more swiftly to emerging threats and develop crime prevention strategies suited to the peculiarities of the region.

In a statement signed by the Atoloye Aare Ona Kakanfo, Babajide Tanimowo, on behalf of the Council, the group said its review covered security developments in the South-West, as well as Kwara, Kogi and other parts of the country.

The Council urged the governors and their respective Houses of Assembly to expedite legislative and administrative processes towards establishing state police.

It also asked the governors to heed an earlier appeal by Adams, through letters to the states, for stronger partnership and collaboration among security stakeholders in tackling insecurity across the region.

According to the Council, such collaboration would strengthen community engagement, improve intelligence gathering and promote a more coordinated response to security threats.

It said the South-West Security Stakeholders Group (SSSG), currently led by Adams and comprising 16 security-relevant groups with grassroots structures across the region, would complement the efforts of formal security agencies.

The Council, however, maintained that the existing security architecture required greater local empowerment and autonomy to effectively address the peculiar security challenges confronting the South-West.

It consequently called on communities across the region to establish Community Security Networks to work with the Amotekun Corps and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) in protecting their communities.

The group, which urged chairmen of local councils and communities to provide funding for the networks to enable them to function effectively, also called on governors, traditional rulers, security agencies and community organisations to strengthen their cooperation and unite against violence, banditry and other forms of criminality threatening the stability of the South-West.

Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State has condemned the reported attack by suspected bandits on an Operation Burst Base in Olorunsogo Local Council, questioning the effectiveness of the surveillance aircraft reportedly procured by Governor Seyi Makinde.

In a statement yesterday and made available to journalists in Ibadan, the state’s Publicity Secretary of the APC, Olawale Sadare, alleged that the attackers operated for more than an hour without being repelled.

Sadare, therefore, questioned why no surveillance operation was detected in the area, particularly as the state government had previously announced the deployment of two aircraft for security surveillance.
IN another development, Oyo State Government has said that five suspected terrorists had been arrested following the attack on a military camp on the outskirts of Igbeti in Olorunsogo Local Council with no fewer than 120 soldiers deployed to track the fleeing attackers.

The Deputy Governor, Bayo Lawal, disclosed this yesterday when he visited the scene of the attack to assess the situation, assuring residents that the administration of Governor Seyi Makinde would not abandon them.