‘Tension will reduce if youths are employed’ — Makinde briefs Buhari on insecurity in Oyo

Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo, says tension in his state will “definitely go down” if a lot of the youths are gainfully employed.

Speaking with reporters after meeting President Muhammadu Buhari at Aso Rock on Wednesday, Makinde said he briefed the president about some of the measures he put in place to address the security challenges in Oyo.

There are reports of destruction and killings owing to conflicts between farmers and herders, and Sunday Igboho, a youth leader in the state, gave a quit notice to herders.

The eviction notice generated reactions and counter reactions, with properties and vehicles razed by protesters in Ibarapa local government area (LGA) of the state.

Speaking on his visit to Buhari, the governor said he asked the president to provide more mobile police squadrons for Oyo.

“I came to brief the president on the security situation in Oyo state. There has been a lot of fake news all around and I wanted to be sure that the president clearly has first-hand information from me, which I did,” Makinde was quoted as saying in a statement by Taiwo Adisa, his chief press secretary.

“We also exchanged ideas about what we need to do better; some of the programmes we have put in place to ensure that this security issue is tackled. So, that’s basically why I came here.

“The issue that I discussed with Mr. President is the fact that Oyo State landmass is quite big. Oyo State is close to 29,000 square kilometres. And the state right now only has two mobile police squadrons.

“So, I requested for more mobile police squadrons to be deployed to Oyo State and also asked for support for the joint security outfit because the underlying issue here also has to do with limited opportunities.

“The tension will definitely go down if a lot of our youths are gainfully employed. So, I briefed the President on what we are doing in that regard.

“We have a history of living together peacefully among all the ethnic groups that are present in Oyo State. For instance, what triggered all of these was that Dr. Aborode was brutally murdered; that is criminal. But on the other hand, the Seriki, Alhaji Kabir, has been staying in that same place for 40 years. So, quite frankly, the people we are after are criminals — they are the bandits, hoodlums, armed robbers, kidnappers.

“Those are the true enemies of the state and those are the people we will go after.”