By Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti
The Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has said 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 transborder 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 had ordered the immediate construction of a police post at Ekiti-Kwara border to patrol that seemingly porous section of the state.
Many commuters had been kidnapped while some were even killed as a result of the persistent nefarious activities of suspected gunmen along Aramoko-Erio-Efon-Iwaraja axis, thereby making the portion dreadful to transporters.
Speaking in Ado Ekiti on Monday evening while appearing on the monthly programme tagged “Meet Your Governor” aired by Ekiti-based media outfits, Fayemi said the Ekiti State Security Trust had 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 in operation is grossly inadequate to secure the country, harping on the need to create state police, which understand the terrain and that will facilities better security cover for the 170 million Nigerian citizens.
Fayemi said he has been midwifing series of meetings across the country and South-east in particular as the Chairman of the Nigeria’s 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 had 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 (RRS). 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,” Fayemi said.
The governor further assured the workers of the state Ministry of Environment employed as ‘street sweepers’, whose salaries were slashed from N10,000 to N5,000, that their issues would be addressed soon.
“I have instructed their coordinators to brief us about the situation to find a way for the implementation of the old salary. They will soon see my positive actions in this regard soon,” he said.
Fayemi assured the state workers of regular payment of salaries and pensions, saying the era when payment of civil servants’ benefits were considered a favour rather than a right was over.
“Apart from regular payment of their benefits, we are also assuring then that all the backlog of salaries and pension will be paid.
“They shouldn’t worry about how the state will do it, we shall fulfill our promises to pay all outstanding allowances because that was our bond with the workers,” Fayemi stated.
