Gbenga Sodeinde in Ado Ekiti
The detachment of military personnel deployed to Ekiti State to combat the recently increasing activities of kidnappers, bandits and other criminals have arrived the state yesterday.
Addressing the troops at the Fajuyi Pavilion in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, the Commander 32 Artillery Brigade, Akure, Briadier-General John Lar, said that the soldiers were deployed to Ekiti to flush out criminals tormenting the state.
Lar said the soldiers would comb every nook and cranny of Ekiti State and all adjourning states to ensure that there would be no binding place for the criminals.
He said: “There will be no night and no day, as they are expected to clear the bushes within 24 hours. We have just come in now and we are starting now.”
The Special Adviser on Security to Ekiti State Government, Brigadier General Ebenezar Ogundana (rtd), said that the soldiers were directed by the Chief of Army Staff to beef-up the troops in the state and make sure all the criminals are flushed out from their hide-outs in the forest reserves that are already occupied by bandits and terrorists across the borders of Kogi, Kwara, Osun and Ondo States.
Ogundana, noted that Ekiti has been a peaceful state but suddenly from nowhere, sad experiences and things that were not previously experienced started happenings.
He said: “With the soldiers around, I can assure our people that everybody can sleep and with their eyes closed.
“We also want to inform the people of the state that we need information, timely information to help the troops to carry out their assignment. Tell us where this people are to make the job easier for the troops.
“The operation is just the advance party that we are expecting from the Commander-In-Chief, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who directed the Chief of Army Staff.”
He, therefore, welcomed the troops to Ekiti on behalf of Governor Biodun Oyebanji.
The soldiers were deployed to the state after the recent visit of Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Biodun Oyebanji, to various security agencies following the killings of two traditional rulers and abduction of school children and the teachers of the Apostolic Faith Group of School, in Emure-Ekiti.
