Fayemi to build police post at Ekiti-Osun border town

By Gbenga Sodeinde, Ado-Ekiti

The Governor of Ekiti state, Kayode Fayemi says the state government has concluded plans to build a modern and well-equipped police station at Iwaraja, a border town between Ekiti and Osun states to make the axis safe for commuters.

Fayemi said the measure would curtail the rising wave of trans-border crimes like kidnappings and killings being perpetrated between Efon Alaaye Ekiti and Iwaraja of recent.

Following the killings of some residents by suspected herders at Iyemero early this year, Fayemi has ordered the immediate construction of a police post at the Ekiti -Kwara state border to patrol the seemingly porous section of the state.

Many commuters have been kidnapped while some were even killed as a result of the persistent nefarious activities of suspected gunmen along the Aramoko-Erio-Efon-Iwaraja axis, thereby making the portion dreadful for transporters.

Speaking in Ado Ekiti while appearing on the monthly programme tagged: “Meet your governor” aired by an Ekiti- based media outfit, Fayemi said the Ekiti state Security Trust has been signed into law and this, he said would help in fortifying the security architecture of the state when it commences operation.

Fayemi again restated that the federal police structure is grossly inadequate to secure the country, harping on the need to create state police, which understands the terrain and provide better security cover for the 170 million Nigerian citizens.

Fayemi said he has been holding series of meetings across the country and in the South East in particular as the chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum on the need to have a joint security network that will stamp out evil-doers from the zone.

“The governors, traditional rulers and other stakeholders are meeting across the South West and we are taking steps to ensure that our people are safe to do their businesses without fear of being killed or kidnapped.

“In Ekiti, we are going to build a modern police station between Efon and Iwaraja to patrol the section where we have had reported cases of kidnappings and other crimes.

“Very soon, our people will be seeing leopard branded patrol vehicles of the ‘Operation Rapid Response Squad’. This is a modern security outfit that will be operating in Ekiti and other South West states. They are to work hand-in-hand with each other to ward off any form of security threat.

“This issue of security is more important to me than any other issue or policy of government because if this place is safe, investors will surely come in and do businesses with us,” the governor said.