Security is the state of being free from danger and threat, and as they say, security is every body’s business. To this end, the Akoko-Edo Security Network (ASN), at whose instance its spokesperson, Comrade Victor Arogunyo summoned a stakeholders’ meeting with the Commissioner for Public Security and Safety, Hon. Omololu Ojehomon, some traditional rulers and indegenes of the LGA, at the Palace of the Onilampese of Lampese, HRH Sir Oba A. A Ojeifo, on the 26th of November 2022, with the aim of fashioning a way forward, security wise, for the LGA.
In this report, Akoko Edo community newspaper’s Albert Afeso Akanbi examines the agenda of the meeting against the backdrop of the issue of insecurity in Nigeria as a whole.
Insecurity as a subject matter, especially as of today, has become an issue of serious concern in Nigeria. For many Nigerians, and by extension indegenes of Akoko-Edo LGA, both home and in the diaspora, including the leaders and the led, the question in every body’s lips today is; how did we as a country arrive at such a dastardly situation where no one is safe anymore? And worse still, rather than abate, the problem is escalating by the day, and as we speak, it appears to be totally out of control. And sadly too, Akoko-Edo LGA is not isolated or immune to the insecurity ravaging the country like a wild hammertan fire.
As a matter of fact, over the years, and up till this very moment, there has been all kinds of security reports, from kidnapping, banditry, cultism, armed robbery to herders’ invasion, leading to some recorded deaths across the LGA. Just last month, according to Comrade Arogunyo, in Ikiran-Ile, a community that shares a boundary with Imeri, a town that is now in Ondo State, four violent deaths were recorded. They were all related to activities of armed groups.
Then, on 24th November, two vehicles were intercepted by kidnappers who appear to have found a home in the LGA today; one of the vehicles was coming from the town of Boko in Ondo State while the other was coming from Lagos. All passengers were kidnapped along the Ekor and Ikiran Oke road. In all, over 40 passengers were taken against their wish. Although, all passengers have since regained their freedom as a result of the combined efforts of the military, DSS and vigilante in the area, the incidence still raises the question of safety in the area, especially at this period.
There are analysts who insist that this government has failed, especially as regards the provision of security to the nation. They cite as example in the south-west of Nigeria that is “plagued by a surge in cybercrime, armed robbery, kidnapping, domestic crime, extrajudicial killings, herder-farmer conflicts, ritual killings, and banditry and the south-east which is now a haven for ritual killings, commercial crime, secessionist agitation, kidnapping, herder-farmer clashes, attacks by unknown gunmen, and banditry. They say the south-south remains threatened by militancy, kidnapping, and environmental agitation while the entire north has been subject to a humanitarian crisis lasting over a decade and caused by the Boko Haram insurgency and the Islamic State in West Africa Province, a region also enmeshed in illegal mining, ethnoreligious killings, and banditry”.
In all, insecurity in Nigeria has assumed a soft spot in political stance and has claimed thousands of lives and caused extensive damage and loss of properties they say.
It is because of realities like the ones cited above that a prominent son of Akoko-Edo LGA like Rev. Fr. Ignatius Omunagbe of the Catholic Diocese of Auchi, insist that Akoko-Edo LGA must evolve its own home-grown security strategy for protecting its people, that will be in sync with whatever the governments at both the federal and the State levels have.
For Comrade Arogunyo who, at the meeting, insisted that part of the agenda of the gathering was to call the authorities to treat Akoko-Edo as 3 LGAs not as one, there can be no alternative to supporting home grown security. He lamented the lack of remuneration for the local vigilante groups in the area, especially those operating in boundary communities. He stated that, being a gateway to areas like Ondo, Benin and even Lagos, vigilante groups in boundary communities like Ososo, Lampese and so on, must be encouraged. He told the gathering that a situation where vigilante groups kit themselves, have no vehicles, no salaries and so on, was really sad.
He lamented sabotage on the part of some Akoko-Edo indigenes, and insinuated that there are those who are currently profiting from the insecurity in the area, citing an example of how the efforts of the NDLEA which wanted to establish an office in the LGA were frustrated for many months as they went from place to place looking for an office, by some powerful interests, making the agency to finally abandon their quest and leave the area.
In illustrating the gravity of the security situation in the area, he revealed that there still exist a lot of criminal hide outs in Akoko Edo today, despite the fact that the ASN and other groups have embarked on a massive bush combing of the forests in the area like the Ayoron, Imoga, Lampese to Eyere forests etc. He also revealed that kidnapped victims are often kept in homes belonging to private individuals. He told us that some of the hot bed of kidnapping in Akoko-Edo LGA have heavy police and military check points and patrol, yet kidnapping still happen there, many times after the security agencies have left, further lending credence to the suspicion that there are informants within the agencies who give intel to these criminals.
The Hon Commissioner listened to all those who spoke at the meeting, especially the traditional rulers who were in attendance, and took note of the all the deliberations of the meeting, and then she advised that family values that she grew up knowing as a child, must be reintroduced into homes in the area. She insisted that part of the problem was the failure of our value system, but promised that the Obaseki government will do everything within its power to keep the entire State, and not just Akoko-Edo, safe. She said the government is not playing politics with security as Obaseki is training over 500 security personnel that would soon be released to communities in the entire State.
Comrade Arogunyo appealed to the government for support in the area of collaboration between vigilante and hunters in the area. He appealed for vehicles and funds as he insisted that the non-payment of salaries to these groups is not a good one. His appeal was to both the government and Akoko-Edo indigenes abroad. He praised the current acting Chairman of the LGA, Dr. Innocent Alenoghena and two prominent sons of the area based abroad, Dr. Richard Bagudu and Dr Charles Jagun for all they are doing for the area. He advised citizens, especially sons and daughters coming home for the yuletide to do everything within their power to avoid late night travels.
Akoko-Edo LGA is perhaps the only LGA in Nigeria that has the entire LGA as one federal constituency even though there are many LGA, though smaller and younger, that have two to three federal constituencies in one LGA. This alone, in itself, presents a kind of challenge.
Then, at the national, State and LG levels, as a starting point, we must solve the problem of unemployment as a people, as this is critical to ensuring a safe society with progressive and productive individuals working hard to make the country great.
Albert Afeso Akanbi is an editor at Akoko Edo community newspaper.
