By Mumini Abdulkareem
The Speaker, Kwara State House of Assembly, Hon Salihu Yakubu Danladi,
has bemoaned the growing insecurity in the country, stressing that all
hands must be on deck to arrest the tide.
The Speaker, who made this disclosure during his familiarisation visit
to heads of security formations in the state, yesterday, pledged the
support of the 9th Assembly towards ensuring the continued security of
lives and property in the state.
The Speaker who visited the Kwara state Commissioner of Police,
Director of the Department of State Security (DSS), Commandant of the
Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Zonal Commandant of
the Federal Road Safety Cops (FRSC) and the Commander of the Nigeria
Airforce, alongside the Deputy Speaker, Majority Leader and Whip of
the House, charged security agencies to never hesitate to collaborate
with the community and all relevant stakeholders towards guaranteeing
a safer Kwara.
Danladi in his address to the Security Chiefs ,acknowledged the good
work the various security outfits have been doing to ensure the
security of lives and properties of the people of Kwara state.
He however noted that with the upsurge in the mode and scale of
criminality in virtually all neighboring states to Kwara, the State is
exposed to serious security threats, hence, the need for collaborative
efforts and proactiveness to manage the threat.
“We were not acquainted with banditry but now we have bandits,
kidnappers, ritual killers and all sorts in most of the North Central
and South Western states.
Our geographical location exposes us to a time bomb which we must
arrest before it explodes. Kwara is a border community to the Northern
and Southern axis where there are security crisis, we want stronger
security presence in these border communities”,he said.
The Speaker added that “there are lots of criminal activities on
Ilesha baruba – Gwanara road, some part of the Southern Kwara roads
have been reported to be security flash points. Our borders are porous
and expose us to security threat, we don’t want the peaceful
nomenclature of Kwara state to be history”. He further advocates for
human rights protection in the cause of discharging their duties.
According to him, the 9th Assembly was seriously concerned about the
issues of street trading ,considering the security implications and
pledge that he and his colleagues will make efforts to stop it. “As
for overloading, and all sorts of traffic offences, by the time there
is State cabinet in place, the 9th Assembly will put them on check to
address them”, he said.
In his remark, the Kwara state Commissioner of Police, Kayode
Egbetokun expressed delight at the visit and assured his maximum
cooperation. He noted that the Police have been securing the border
and communities by engaging the people. He called for volunteer
informants to further assist the police.
The Kwara State DSS Director, Abdulmumini Abdullahi in his remarks
assured the Command’s support for the 9th Kwara Assembly in areas of
necessary information and intelligence gathering that will aid the
delivery of their challenging task.
In his address, Kwara State NSCDC Commandant, Bello Ale said given his
experience with the Niger Delta, he was marveled by the extreme
peaceful nature of Kwara State adding that NSCDC is closer to the
grassroots than any other security outfits in the country. The FRSC
Zonal Commandant, Asst. Corps Marshal Amauche Nwaka and the State
Airforce Commander, Air Commodore HB Adamu, bother charge the House
leadership on legislation on street trading, reiterating the security
implications more support for Operation Harmony.
