Osun has witnessed an increased number of kidnappings on highways in recent times. What has the command found to be responsible for the spate of crime?
That is not correct. We have witnessed a very low level of crime along the highways in recent times and this is attributable to the increasing effort of the police to ease the state of crime. We deploy special tactical teams to the highways, as well as unbranded vehicles that patrol often. Stop-and-search has been increased. The state government has also assisted us by fueling our vehicles, making patrols along the highways to be regular. Again, the combined effort of the police, as well as the local security, has improved security in the state. You will recall that there was a time an attempt was made recently along Ilesha/Akure highway; the police swung into action and foiled it.
There were times reports came to us that some people were abducted, but after our investigation, we discovered no one was abducted. The swift action of the police during an attempt by some gunmen to attack travellers along Ilesha/Akure expressway made the criminals flee into the bush and the police still pursued them. After the attempt was thwarted, the owners of the abandoned vehicles later came out to recover them.
But before then, there had been insinuations that people were kidnapped. However, what happened was that the drivers ran for their lives but they later returned to retrieve their vehicles after the police had pursued the criminals. So, the criminals now know that this state is no longer a safe place for them to operate.
Despite the efforts of your men, none of the perpetrators has been arrested. Does that not boil down to lack of capacity?
No, attempts were made and the police were able to checkmate them. We might not have been able to arrest those that committed the offence, but they made an attempt and found it difficult to operate. If they operated, we would have arrested them. Like I mentioned earlier, the only attempt to rob on a highway in Osun was the one witnessed recently along Ilesha/Akure expressway. They (suspected robbers) wanted to block the highway and the police swung into action and we gave them a chase and that was the only case in recent times. Apart from that incident, we have not witnessed it and we don’t pray to witness it.
What is the Command doing to ensure safety along Ife/Ibadan expressway and other identified flashpoints in the state?
If you go along Ife/Ibadan now, you will see more than a couple of stop-and-search points. We are doing that to ensure that those points are always manned. Aside from that, we have unbranded vehicles that are not known to people on the highways. That is part of the efforts that have reduced crime along that route. I want to assure motorists and passengers that the axis around Asejire-Ilesa-Akure is very safe. It is well-policed and they can move at any time of the day without fear. We will continue to police the road.
Armed robbers recently invaded Ikire and Apomu, killing four of your personnel and three other persons. From preliminary investigations, what exactly transpired?
That was an unfortunate incident because the strategy that I put in place would not ordinarily have allowed any form of crime to occur. But the criminals would have studied that and discovered how to beat it. Bank robbers invaded banks in the area, but I am glad they did not succeed. They targeted two banks but they did not succeed in any. But my men paid the supreme price because the armoured personnel carrier, as well as a police station, were first attacked, just to incapacitate my men, and allow them (armed robbers) to get at the banks. But notwithstanding that they killed at the APC point and the dynamite they threw into the station destabilised the men (policemen), others still fought back and the local volunteers also fought to ensure that the robbers didn’t succeed. After the incident, our strategy was evaluated and we have made a more intense effort to ensure that we are not taken by surprise any longer.
The armed robbers were said to have been about 35 in number. Does this not indicate how much worse the crime rate in Osun is?
We can’t conclude about where they came from or say they were from Osun or that they are Osun youths. Ikire is very close to other towns in neighbouring states. From the town, you can even get into Ogun State, through the forest; Oyo, and one other state. These people would not have come in at once in that large number. Perhaps, they had been around earlier. I also want to believe the operation must have been carried out in connivance with some local criminals. But we have ensured that it will never happen again because our men are more vigilant than before. And we implore the general public to report to us promptly whenever they observe what is not normal. If they discover any strange movement, either by a motorcycle, vehicle, or a pedestrian, they should let us know. It is better to ask questions than to assume everything is well. If the people had been around and villagers did not even bother to inform us, it would have been very unfortunate. Thirty-five people cannot come into a town without knowing the details about where they are to operate. The place they attacked must have been mapped out, but we ended up foiling the attacks on the two banks.
The recent killing of the four cops sadly adds to the number of police personnel killed in the line of duty at a time when Nigeria is lacking adequate manpower in the NPF. How are these losses affecting the command?
Well, we will miss those people who paid the supreme sacrifice. It is a great loss, I must say, and it has a serious effect on the manpower available at the command, particularly at the division where the attack took place. That notwithstanding, we shall not be downcast. We will adjust and make the best use of the available manpower. The strength of the command, generally, is not enough and can never be enough. In every state command you go, they talk about inadequate manpower, inadequate tools to make use of, so they are not enough and they can never be enough. It depends on how best you can utilise the resources you have – human and material. We, command commissioners, are supposed to be managers and good administrators of men and resources. Again, in modern policing, technology is better employed. It’s not about the number of men. We are trying to make the best use of the men we have.
Speaking of technology, how well is the command using it to police the state?
Technology is vast. You cannot employ all the technology required, but the one available to us, like the tracking device system, camera, voice recorder, and a few others, we have been using them to complement our efforts.
Cultism is also on the rise, especially in the interior of Osogbo. What do you think is responsible for this?
I will link that to the joblessness among our youth. There are so many of them who have nothing to do. Some are Senior School Certificate Examination holders.
Some are polytechnic and university students who refused to get themselves skilled in one form of job or the other.
Everyone is looking for a white-collar job that is non-existent. Then, the training, what we called home training in those days, is no longer there.
Because you are jobless does not mean you should take to engaging in vices. Crime is not a job. Many people sprang up from nothing; some are orphans but they made it through the training they gave themselves, not even from their parents, and they have now become employers of labour.
Are there signs cultism has crept into secondary schools in the state?
Yes, unlike in our days. While we were in university, there were only two cult groups that we knew – Pirate Confraternity and Buccaneers at University of Ibadan. And we didn’t even get to know those who were members until the day when the late Pope John Paul II visited Nigeria and came to Ibadan. That was the first time I saw who the members were because they came out for the first time in the daytime and it was then we saw and knew our next-door neighbours, our roommates that were members. The groups back then did not fight each other as we have now. Then, they used to fight injustice for students and indigent ones or fight against lecturers who unnecessarily demanded things that they were not supposed to demand, either from female or male students.
Nowadays, it (cultism) has got to the level of artisans, motorcycle riders, carpenters, welders, and secondary school students, and that has made policing more difficult than it used to be. It has reached the extent that a particular street would say they (residents) all belong to a particular cult group. So, how do we police that kind of environment? We are trying our best, but it is much more difficult than it was in those days. In those days, the (police) uniform was enough to deter the perpetration of crime. In those days, an officer in uniform would arrest people, even with a baton, but today, even if a policeman carries a weapon, an attempt would be made to collect the weapon from him. In the past, once you reported the conduct of a particular person to the emir or an oba, they would tell the person to appear and respond to the charges, but now they even invade palaces to abduct traditional rulers. Unlike in those days when there was respect for traditional rulers, nowadays it’s a different thing.
But what is the Command doing to check it and how many have been arrested and prosecuted for cultism across the state?
Members of the public have a role to play. They are the ones living with the cult members; they are the parents, uncles, brothers of the cult members. They live in the same places. If they don’t live in the same houses, they live in the same areas. Most of the community members know where they stay.
it’s just a matter of giving us information. The ones we can claim that we know, we go after them.
What is the number of arrests made and those prosecuted?
I sincerely don’t have the statistics now, but I want to inform you that we have made a substantial number of arrests and we have started prosecuting them. What initially stopped us was the strike by judiciary workers and the number of men (suspects) in detention kept increasing, placing pressure on the cell facilities and the cost of medicals. But now that the courts have resumed, we have started prosecuting them. But I will not be able to give a figure.
There was tension sometime in May when two people said to be residents of Modakeke were reportedly shot dead in Alapata village by gunmen, causing angry youths to storm the palace of the Ogunsua of Modakeke over the killing. What can you tell us about what really happened and what the situation is now?
We give glory and thanks to God. The impact of the royal father, Ooni of Ife, was commendable and appreciable and it paved the way for the peace we are enjoying now. The problem arose out of the unfortunate incident that took the life of a female farmer and her son. The woman was not just a farmer; she used to lend people money with little interest. We learnt she gave out a lot of money and was managing a large farm. She became a target for hoodlums, either those who had the intention of collecting the farmland or the crops on it or those who had collected money and did not want to pay it back. But the incident happened in a remote forest where she was staying. We learnt the gunmen came, attacked her and the child. Thereafter, there were rumours that Ife people were the ones that killed them because they wanted to take back the village from Modakeke people; it was just a rumour. That led Modakeke people to become suspicious of any Ife person they saw around and the reprisal attacks started. The combined efforts of the state government, law enforcement agents, the police as well as our traditional rulers, Ooni of Ife precisely, who called the Modakeke Progressive Union, the Ife royalty and the leaders; and the youth leaders on both sides, led to the resolution of the issues.
Have there been arrests made since then?
We have a list of people given to us from both sides, but those people whose names were given have relocated for now. There were attempts to get them on both sides because both Ife and Modakeke were resolute that, truly, those listed were troublemakers. But they fled. But I can assure you that as soon as possible, we will get them. They will be arrested as soon as we are able to get information regarding their whereabouts. We are also being careful so the communities would not make us arrest their perceived enemies because that in itself would trigger some problems. Once we get their locations, we are sure with concrete evidence, we will do what we are expected to do.
The issue of attacks by armed herdsmen has continued to linger in Osun and some think the herders receive preferential treatment from the police. Is that true?
We are fortunate not to have had that kind of crime here and I believe it is partly due to the arrangement on the ground.
Even the state government has a special adviser that handles such issues and it is well-known to both farmers and herders that such an arrangement is on the ground. So, whenever anyone is aggrieved, they know where to go. The head of that arrangement is doing a great job.
The farmer-herder issue has never got to an unmanageable level in Osun.
Is the Command aware of occasional animosity between Fulani settlers in Osun and the indigenes? What steps have been taken to douse the tension whenever there are issues involving the two groups?
The one at Wasinmi (the killing at a Fulani settlement), we are not sure it was a clash between settlers and the indigenes. The man killed was a very rich Fulani man. He had everything that could attract hoodlums. Apart from that, the cattle rustlers too because he had a lot of cattle, could have attacked him. All these could be responsible. So, I don’t want to see it as an ethnic clash. Investigation has not proven it to be so.
Notwithstanding, the investigation has to be meticulous and thorough, irrespective of the duration. We are still on it, but from the way we are looking at it, it appears not likely to be the settlers against indigenes. It appears to be (caused by) hoodlums, who don’t attack based on tribe or religion. Hoodlums are hoodlums; armed robbers are armed robbers. It cuts across all ethnicity or religion. That is not to say there is no fear among the settlers. For example, when the June 12 celebration was to take place, some of our people from the North who are Hausa/Fulani were afraid of possible attacks by the indigenes. But I assured them that nothing bad would happen to them. If you see the Hausa/Fulani here, they have imbibed the same culture and tradition (in Osun); if you hear them speak Yoruba, you would not believe they are non-indigenes. They see themselves as part of the people here and the indigenes see them same way too. We just continue to reassure them of their safety.
(Punch)
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