Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yoruba land, Iba Gani Adams, on Tuesday in Lagos presented 10 motorcycles popularly called okadas to leaders of South-West Security Stakeholders Group (SSSG) in order to strengthen their capacity to fight insecurity and secure the South-West region against bandits and killer herdsmen.
The motorcycles, which he facilitated through the pan- Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, who is also the Grand Patron of Yoruba Summit Group (YSG), were to be used for information gathering, surveillance, and other security activities across the South-West region.
The 10 prominent security groups that benefitted from the gesture include the Oodua Progressive Congress (OPC), Agbekoya, Vigilante Group of Nigeria, Hunters, and Community Security Awareness Initiatives Corps of Nigeria (COMSAIC), among others.
Iba Adams, while presenting the motorbikes to the groups, expressed appreciation to the Yoruba leader, Pa Adebanjo, saying the gesture would enhance security efficiency across the region as okadas would serve as one of the tools for proper surveillance.
This was just as he vowed that SSSG was determined to secure the South-West region and, therefore, ready to complement the efforts of other security agencies to rid the region of criminal Fulani herdsmen.
The Yoruba Generalissimo, who is also the convener of the SSSG, however, insisted that the group would embark on continuous security surveillance across the region.
“This is a testimony of our resolve to beef up the security across the South-West region. With the spate of kidnappings, killings and banditry, in Yoruba land, it is no doubt that we have endured the most difficult moment in the South-West and this new development was part of the measures and strategies toward ensuring the safety of our people across the region.
“As a group that is determined to secure the South-West, we are ready to complement the efforts of other security agencies and we would not relent in our efforts to get rid of criminal Fulani herdsmen,” he vowed.
Meanwhile, Afenifere chieftain, Mogaji Gboyega Adejumo, in his remarks, urged the group leaders to ensure that they used the bicycles for the purposes which they were meant for, stressing that efforts were on to improve on this gesture in the future.
“We use this new security measure to build a lasting synergy between the SSSG and YSG in ensuring that the South-West is safe for our people across the country.
“As leaders, it is our responsibility to support the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yoruba land, Iba Gani Abiodun Ige Adams, in his efforts to secure the South-West and as the traditional Chief Security Officer of our race, the Yoruba, both home and in Diaspora look up to him as the generalissimo of Yoruba land,” Adejumo said.
Credit: Nigeria Tribune