A public affairs analyst, Mr. Sola Abegunde on Monday appeared before the Judicial Commission of Inquiry set up by the Oyo State Government to investigate the abduction of teachers and students in Ahoro-Esinele and Yawota communities, Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, in order to establish the facts, identify any instructional or operational lapses.
Abegunde’s Memorandum was treated as Memo 3 by the Commission chaired by Hon. Justice M.A.O Owoade (Rtd).
While speaking at the Conference Room of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry, Abegunde called for prompt response to security threats. He said if the government had acted on security reports raised by the member of the Oyo State House of Assembly, from Oriire Constituency three years ago, who said strange movements were noticed in the forest zones of the LG, the abduction would have been averted.
Abegunde queried the source of information shared by the Hon. Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Debo Ogundoyin, who listed the demands of the abductors. He said such information is classified which should be in custody of Governor Makinde alone as the Chief Security Officer of the State.
Abegunde urged the Commission to invite Rt Hon. Ogundoyin to unravel the facts how got the information that was later debunked by the kidnappers in their subsequent videos through Principal of Community High School Ahoro-Esinele in their captivity.
Mr. Abegunde while speaking further called for the periodic training of Amotekun and equipping them with necessary tools to make them respond to insecurity in the local communities. He disagreed that Oyo State has the highest number of Amotekun in South-West with persistent criminal activities in the local communities.
RELATED NEWS:
Oriire Abduction: Makinde Inaugurates Members of Judicial Commission of Inquiry
Mr. Abegunde urged the Commission to extend its inquiry to Bodija blast where a Malian was fingered as the arrow head of the explosion that led to lost of lives and property. He queried the whereabouts of the mastermind of the Bodija explosion. He raised continuous operation of illegal mining around the Oriire Local Government and its environs as a major drive for criminal activities in the zone.
Abegunde while drawing conclusions blamed the Oyo State Government under the leadership of Engr Seyi Makinde for all insecurities in the State without exonerating Federal Government. He suggested that procurement of drones would have helped the state to combat banditry attack in terms of cost implications rather than N7billion aircraft whose whereabouts are not known.
