Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti
The Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has promised that the state government would build a modern and well-equipped police station at Iwaraja, a border town between Ekiti and Osun states, to curtail the rising wave of crimes like kidnappings and killings along that axis.
Similarly, Governor Fayemi has ordered the construction of a police post at Ekiti -Kwara border following the killings of some residents by suspected herders at Iyemero early this year.
The establishment of the Iyemero Police Post was occasioned by reports that many commuters had either been kidnapped or killed by suspected gunmen along Aramoko-Erio-Efon-Iwaraja axis.
Speaking in Ado Ekiti yesterday during a monthly programme tagged: “Meet Your Governor,” Fayemi said the Ekiti State Security Trust had been signed into law to fortify the security architecture of the state.
He also restated the call for the creation of state police that understands the local terrain to facilitate better security cover for Nigerian citizens since the federal police structure, which is currently in operation is grossly inadequate to secure the country.
He also said that he is using his good offices as the Chairman of the Nigerian Governor’s Forum to midwife series of meetings across the country on the need to have a joint security network that would stamp out evil doers, especially in the Southwest.
“The governors, traditional rulers and other stakeholders are meeting across the southwest 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 (ORRS). This is a modern security outfit that will be operating in Ekiti and other southwest 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.
He also used the program to assure workers of the State Ministry of Environment who were employed as “street sweepers,” that their salaries which were slashed from N10,000 to N5,000 would be resolved 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.
He also handed the assurance of regular payment of salaries and pensions to civil servants and pensioners in the state since the era when their benefits were regarded as favours, 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.
