Lawmaker Calls for Improved Security in Kwara Communities

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

The immediate-past Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking and Finance, Dr. Rafiu Adebayo Ibrahim, has called for urgent improved security in Kwara State in view of the incessant reported case of kidnapping, farmers/herdsmen crises, and attacks on innocent residents of the state.

Ibrahim, who represented Kwara South senatorial district in the eighth Senate, made the call in Ilorin yesterday in a statement issued on the recent kidnapping and killing of Mr. Onijala Adegboyega by suspected kidnappers in Olla town, Isin Local Government Area of the state last Saturday.

Late Onijala was kidnapped on his way back from his farm by five armed kidnappers in Olla town.

The corpse of the deceased was later recovered from the forest by vigilantes from the town.

Ibrahim, who expressed disgust over the several attacks on the people of the state occasioned by alleged lack of serious commitment of the state government, called on the state Governor, Alhaji AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, and security agencies to be alive to their responsibilities and address the development.

The former lawmaker added that the primary responsibility of every government is the protection of lives and property of its citizens.

He stressed the need for the state government to work with security operatives, community leaders and the local vigilantes to keep Kwara South and other parts of the state safe and secure.

Ibrahim noted further that some residents of theborder communities now live in fear of attack from herders and kidnappers.

He noted that farmers can no longer go their farms safely, and that residents are now afraid of travelling, “and this has affected economic activities within that axis and now resulting in death of their people.”

The Senator, however, commiserated with Onijala, his family and the entire people of Isin LGA over the death of their kinsman, Mr. Adegboyega Onijala in the hands of the kidnappers.

He said: “It is so pathetic and unfortunate the kidnapping and eventual death of the gentle man, Mr. Adegboyega Oni-Jay, who was going about his lawful activities in his community before he was attacked by gunmen in his community and whisked away to the bush before his death.”