Lagos Assembly, Afenifere charge South West governor on security

Decry kidnap of monarch

Yoruba socio-cultural group, the Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) and members of the Lagos State House of Assembly have called on South-West governors to beef up security in the region.

The call is coming on the heels of the recent kidnap of a traditional ruler in Lagos State, the Oniba of Iba, Oba Goriola Oseni, along with two other residents of Iba, an incident they condemned in very strong term.

In separate statements yesterday, ARG described the monarch’s kidnap as a sacrilege and violation of Yoruba mores and values while members of the state Assembly called on Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to liaise with the Federal Government to reinforce security in the state and to speedily assent the Neighbourhood and Safety Corp Bill it recently passed.

ARG Chairman, Mr. Olawale Oshun, said the group had noted that kidnapping and violent crimes have for a while become the scourge of residents close to shoreline of South-West states, as it submitted that security is at best a proactive concern and at its worst a reactive one.

The group said: “Consequently, the existing security frame-work in Nigeria, being largely reactive and unduly centralised, has never been efficient and reliable to support the policing of large parts of Nigeria in general or South-West region in particular.”

While raising the issue under matter of urgent public importance, the Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, representing Agege Constituency 1, said it is necessary to beef up security due to the recent kidnap cases in the state, especially the recent abduction of Oba Oseni

He, therefore, called on Governor Ambode to expedite action and assent the Neighbourhood Safety Corp Bill to ensure its immediate implementation as he directed the Clerk of the House to write a condolence letter to the family of the security guard of the monarch who was killed.