By Temitope Adedeji
At a time, Ondo state was under immense pressure and attacks both left and right, front and back ranging from the kidnappers , herdsmen killings, car theft , cults activities and host of other societal ills that really caused insecurity in the state.
Infact, I personally pitied the law enforcement agencies in the state at that time because, the people of the state were pointing accusing fingers to them all for willingly allowing the dare-devil criminals to freely operate in the state.
At a point, the state governor, Hon Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa could not sleep well , I guessed, over the issue , being the Chief Security Officer in the state, as he was perceived to have been at a cross roads over what to do and how to do it.
The action of the men of the under world forced the government of the state to adopt an option legally of immediate prosecution of anyone found guilty of offence relating to kidnap that such individual or group of individuals should be given death sentence.
People were happy with the promulgation of the law thinking it would put an end to the spate of kidnapping in the state but the response was capital NO.
Both Amotekun corps and the Nigeria Police, Ondo state command tried all they could to reduce the manace , it yielded little due to reliance on their human efforts which brought about some arrests mostly from the Amotekun corps.
The immediate past Commissioner of police in the state, Alfred Olutokunbo Afolabi, a man that will forever be remembered in fighting criminalities , tried his best for the state when no resources were not available for him to fight headlong with the criminals. He went into war with almost nothing or the limited resources on ground which made him achieve the little he could before he was transferred out of the state.
Soon after the new Commissioner of police, CP Adebowale Lawal arrived, he strategically mapped out MODUS OPARANDI for the command in conjunction with his leutenants , retraced and restrategized on how to safe the situation maximumly.
However , governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa keyed into the idea raised by some concerned citizens of the state that the men of the Nigerian Police should be encouraged and motivated at least to a reasonable extent which he( the governor) complied and gave operational vehicles to the police and some other necessary things that can’t be mentioned for security reasons.
The Inspector General Of Police, Kayode Egbetokun , a man that could be regarded as dogged fighter also has a huge input in the success stories that the command is recording today.
Egbetokun approached Mr President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had an extensive deliberations with him over the issue which the listening President concented-to and released huge amount of money to purchased and imported a lot of security gadgets ,that we are not permitted to mention in this write up, part of which is the suffisticated Trackers imported from the Republic Of China and Germany.
No doubt, recently, the Ondo state police command has tremendously be recording success stories.
One of the Success stories was the immediate arrest and apprehension of the killers of Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba Akoko students who buried the female student and threw the dead body of the male student into the sea. The perpetrators were caught and all the accomplices.
Another one is the kidnap of the staff of the same university by kidnappers , who demanded for seven Million naira ramsom , which they were all caught , apprehended and facing prosecution through the active intervention of the Ondo state police command under the leadership of CP Adebowale Lawal.
It will interest you to know that, self acclaimed kidnap victim , who kidnapped himself so as to get money from his father and the family to the tune of #500,000 naira was apprehended by the police of Ondo state.
The rationale behind the whole scenerio is that, the Police and other security agencies in the state have determined to have a strong senergy that will completely chase away the criminal elements in the state despite the limited workforce and resources available to them.
Our people are therefore urged to please help our security men in guilding their tongues over what they say in public which made them a Target of the kidnappers.
