Honourable Ganiyu Abolarin KWHA Representing Ekiti LG Raises Alarm Over The Sad State Of Insecurity In His Constituency

 

Honourable Ganiyu Abolarin, The Kwara House of Assembly Member representing Ekiti Local Government as raised concern over the alarming rate of insecurity in his constituency.

Few hours ago he shared on his official facebook handle where he demanded review of state laws to impose capital punishment for act of kidnapping and banditry and he also wants more troops to be deployed to cover Patigi, Eruku, Obbo-Aiyegunle Forest. He made this known to the house while presenting a 'Matter of Urgent Public Importance' during the legislative plenary on Tuesday.

In his words ;

"The wave of attacks and killings around Eruku, Isapa, Obbo-ile, Obbo-Aiyegunle communities calls for a serious concern and needs urgent action.

The Kidnapping, killings and robbery by suspected fulani herdsmen is quite worrisome,kidnapping has remained the most virulent form of banditry in Nigeria. It has become the most pervasive intractable violent crime in the country.

In recent time there have been various cases of kidnapping in Kwara State. More worrisome to me are cases been recorded in my constituency.

There have been  cases of Fulani herdsmen kidnapping travelers on Obbo-Aiyegunle to Osi road and Obbo-ile to Eruku (the border town to Kogi State) and even around Isapa mountains.

Just on Saturday, 1st May,2021, a commissioner in the Kogi State Pension Board, Mr. Solomon Akeweje was shot dead on Eruku-Egbe road, the border town in Kwara State, by gunmen while he was traveling back to Egbe from Kwara State in the same car with the Chairman of Yagba West Local Government, Mr. Pius Kolawole.

The Yagba West Local Government Chairman was said to have been abducted by these yet-to-be-identified gunmen. Likewise on the same  Saturday some farmers from Eruku were also attacked on their farmland by herdsmen who inflicted several machete wounds on them for disallowing their cattle to feed on their crops.

Some months ago, a woman who was a retired health officer from my community was shot dead on the Osi-Obbo Aiyegunle road by same bandits.

Just few weeks ago, a second class Oba in my constituency, the Owallobo of Obbo-Aiyegunle received a text message from a suspected kidnapper, who threatened to invade the community with his gang and abduct the Kabiesi.

Since this messages were sent , residents of my constituency and in particular, residents of Obbo-Aiyegunle have been living in fear of been attcked by this dreadfully devilish kidnappers. People no longer sleep with their two eyes closed.

The worrisome dimension was the reported case of  the kidnapped Ekiti State traditional ruler, The Obadu of Ilemeso-Ekiti, in Oye Local Government Area of Ekiti State, who was abducted from his home, when the gunmen scaled the palace fence around 8:30pm, the kidnappers invaded his apartment and abducted him.

The report from Ekiti State's Amotekun Corps Commander, retired Brig. Gen Joe Komolafe says the release of the traditional ruler was secured at a forest in Obbo-ile, a community in ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State with the help of Kwara Vigilante group.

This series of incidents may point to the fact that perhaps,the kidnap gangs are trying to establish a base around the Obbo-ile/Obbo Aiyegunle forest, judging from rampant cases of other kidnappings recorded around this communities, coupled with the recent threat message to the traditional ruler of one of the communities.

One of the reasons why it was more convenient for the kidnappers to perpetrate their crime on the Osi- obbo- Aiyegunle road has been as a result of the bad condition of the road networks, which made driving through it a bit difficult and at a very slow pace.

I however appreciates the Kwara State Governor, Malam AbdulRasaq AbdulRahman for his prompt action which led to the deployment of the Special Anti-Kidnapping Task Force to Ekiti, Oke-Ero, Irepodun and Isin Federal Constituency."

Honourable Ganiyu Abolarin however didn't fail to make known the effort of His Excellency, Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq in combating insecurity by given his support to the 1,056 newly recruited Constabulary Police Constables popularly known as 'Community Police', cutting across the sixteen (16) local government. And he greatly appreciates their deployment to the communities across the state.

He,Honourable Ganiyu while making the state of security in his constituency known to security agencies stated that "The Ekiti Local Government Area has been recording cases of banditry and kidnapping due to the vast grazing forest which criss-cross from Borgu forest in Niger State through Patigi LGA to Isapa-Eruku-Obbo-ile-Obbo Aiyegunle part of kwara state, to kogi and Ekiti State. This is the route through which the bandits are said to transit, effort to stop the menace of kidnapping failed because of weak sanction which our laws provided for arrested kidnappers."

Having made the situation of security in his constituency known the lawmaker appeal for a review of the State Law on Ant-Kidnapping to attach live sentence or death as sanction for act of kidnapping in the state.