A pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation called Afenifere, on Wednesday, raised the alarm against the festering insecurity in the country noting that the problem was capable of frustrating the peace and unity in the land.
The warning by Afenifere came on the heels of a protest that halted vehicular activities on the Abeokuta- Sango-Lagos Expressway on Wednesday by students of DS Adegbenro ICT Polytechnic, Itori, in Ewekoro Local Government Area of Ogun State, against the alleged abduction of two students by suspected gunmen.
Jare Ajayi, National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, in a statement, expressed regret that the government appeared to be losing grip on how to deal with the menace as insecurity seemed to be worsening in the country.
The pan-Yoruba organisation lamented in its statement that the National Assembly members recently voted against the introduction of state police.
It urged the state governors and members of the states’ Houses of Assembly to mount pressure on President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Assembly to allow state police “if they are sincere in putting an end to the menace of insecurity and terrorism in Nigeria.”
Afenifere’s statement read, “In the efforts to tame the monster, a lot of security personnel have lost their lives while many were wounded.
“The spate of security and safety infractions makes it look like Nigeria is in the state of war. We, therefore, challenge those at the helms of affairs to be more sincere in finding effective solutions to the problem.
“The immediate strategies to end the scourge are to quickly allow states and local government councils to have their police force, strengthen the existing security forces and motivate security personnel adequately. Government should also create an atmosphere for youths in the country to be productively engaged, respect the rule of law including the fundamental rights of the Nigerian citizens as well as stop treating terrorists and bandits with kid gloves.
“To make the suggested strategy enduring and effective, Afenifere calls for the amendment of Section 214 of the 1999 Constitution to enable states and local government councils have their police.
“This is a big slap on the spirit of federalism. It must be changed to vest more power on states and local government councils especially on such issues as security, natural resources, education, health and transport etc.,” it stated.
Meanwhile, vehicular activities on the Abeokuta-Sango-Lagos Expressway were disrupted as some unknown gunmen attacked a student hostel around 1am at Afowowa, Itori and made away with laptops and other valuables.
The students, who expressed anger due to police refusal to respond to distress calls, said that the attack lasted almost four hours.
A student of the polytechnic was quoted as saying that “The gunmen attacked a hostel at Afowowa and operated for almost four hours. They made away with laptops and other belongings of our colleagues. We called the police but there was no response. Later, the police said their vehicle was not in good condition.
“When they finally arrived, they said the students should lead in facing the gunmen. One of the students was shot in the leg and others were badly injured. That is why we took to the streets to protest.”
Abimbola Oyeyemi, Police Public Relations Officer, Ogun State Command, was quoted as saying that he had not been fully briefed on the actual cause of the protest as of the time of filing this report.
