THE Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, yesterday, disclosed that there was an arrangement to deploy drones and Closed Circuit Televisions, CCTVs, to boost the security of lives and properties in the South West.
The Ooni said this while speaking with State House correspondents, after leading other traditional rulers from the South West for a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
While he said the President has agreed to fast-track the monitoring of forests in the region with the use of technology, such as drones, the monarch noted that CCTVs would be mounted along highways in the zone.
He said the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, and other key security heads were at the closed-door meeting with the President.
Besides, he noted that police personnel will be recruited among people born and living in the various communities in the region.
The Ooni said: “We met with the number one citizen of the country. He listened to all the issues affecting the South-West and proffered solutions.
“Today, the Inspector-General of Police was present and it was resolved that the entire security architecture will be restructured. We are happy about that.
“We were also told about the introduction of community policing. It means that policemen will be recruited from the community they were born and brought up and will not be redeployed.
“So, this strategy can be deployed to reduce the tension in the South-West, especially. We were able to achieve that milestone.
“Another milestone we achieved is that Mr. President intends to fast-track the rapid monitoring of our forests by applying modern-day technology, which includes the use of drones. The various security agencies will rally round the IGP and see how it can be properly deployed.
“Also, CCTVs will be installed along our highways because the IGP said the police will be very aggressive about clearing our highways.
“We believe that with all these, there will be reduced tension in the South-West because the South-West is very sensitive in Nigeria. We don’t pray for crisis or war or uprising, as it will snowball into a lot of things; that is why all the monarchs from the six states of the South West were represented at the meeting.
“We thank God that Mr. President is a listening President and so far so good, we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Asked if the installation of the CCTV was factored into the discussion, the monarch said: “Absolutely. This time around, it was a fruitful interactive session. It was not the usual discussion, we are talking the walk and we are going to walk the talk.”
Besides, the Ooni said: “We, as traditional rulers, know our people, we know the good, the bad and ugly, and that is why the government is taking it to another level by directly involving us on how to implement its initiatives.
“If they want to start community policing and they give it to politicians, it is not going to work. That is why they are involving us. We know those born within our communities, we know how to recommend them for this kind of employment; we know the good ones, who will be willing to serve their communities.
“So, by doing that, there will be crime reduction in our communities, because each community is peculiar.
“What the Federal Government is doing now is a different ball game in Nigeria; it has never been done before. We will cooperate with the government and see how they will implement this.
“The problem has been that if you deploy police personnel to the north, within six months, they will deploy them to another place in the south. They are not domiciled there and so, any time they get there, they depend on the vigilantes, community heads, the Mogajis, the Baales, and all the districts heads.
“Why can’t you give the jobs to the families of the Mogajis, the Baales, and all the districts heads? I can assure you that the government is very serious now.”
Bad Fulani leaving S’West
On the call for the Fulani to leave South-West, Oba Ogunwusi said the call was due to the tension.
He said: “It is as a result of the tension, but this time around, the traditional rulers have arrived at a resolution to ensure that such will not happen. The focus should be on bad eggs among them.
“We all live in Nigeria; our porous borders have led to a migration of bad elements into the country. Those are the ones we will focus on to separate the corn from the chaff.
“We are saying it is the bad ones that should leave, the bad ones can never stay, and even Mr. President is with us on that. Even the Fulani clan does not want the bad ones to spoil their name. So many people are hiding under Fulani to do evil now, so the bad ones must go.”
Photo:
President Buhari with VP Yemi Osinbajo, Ooni of Ife Imperial majesty Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi Ojaja II and other traditional leaders as he receives in courtesy visit Traditional Rulers from South West in State House on 31st July 2019
Vanguard
