The Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has called on the federal government to prioritise community policing as he condemned the recent attack on three monarchs in Ekiti State that led to the death of two traditional rulers.
The traditional ruler also encouraged the federal and state governments to move quickly to develop community policing to halt the wave of insecurity across the country.
Recall that on Monday, gunmen suspected of kidnapping killed two Ekiti State monarchs on the Ipao-Oke Ako road.
The gunmen killed the Onimojo of Imojo in the Oye Local Government Area, Oba Olatunde Olusola, and the Elesun of Esun Ekiti in the Ikole Local Government Area, Oba Babatunde Ogunsakin, while the Alara of Ara Ekiti, Oba Adebayo Fatoba in the Ikole Local Government Area, fled.
However, in a statement released on Wednesday and signed by his spokesperson, Moses Olafare, Ooni described the incident as a sacrilegious audacity deliberately planned and carried out to weaken Nigeria’s security capabilities.
He asked President Bola Tinubu and Governor Biodun Oyebanji to speed thorough investigations into the killings and make sure that those responsible face the full force of the law.
He said that if the traditional rulers could experience this, what hope would that leave for their common subjects who look to them for assistance with local security measures?
He claimed that the current wave of abductions and murders of schoolchildren and traditional leaders throughout the nation emphasizes the critical need for a strong, neighborhood-focused security system.
The statement read, “This is a pure sacrilege and it is a deliberate display of criminal audacity to undermine the government’s security control capacity. This reprehensible act has not only robbed us of noble leaders but has also left a scar on the fabric of our unity and peaceful coexistence as a nation. The government must stop at nothing to ensure the perpetrators are arrested and made to face justice.
“We cannot continue like this. Several of our school children are still languishing in the undetected incarceration of these heartless terrorists. A party state chairman in Lagos State was a victim recently. What about the recently abducted schoolchildren in Ekiti State? Six sisters in Abuja not too long ago with one of them killed. Similar cases across the country. Who is safe in this country again? Enough is enough.
“The time should not be later than now for government both at state and Federal levels to show practical capacity in the area of security management and operations. The traditional rulers in Nigeria must be motivated with statutory community policing policy needed to work officially with the government as we remain the closest leaders to the people, we know the traditional techniques to get rid of all these unfortunate situations. We are no cowards and we are ready to rise to the occasion defending our traditional land. Get us statutorily involved and see that what we inherited from our respective ancestors is still intact and real.”
