Alaafin Advocates Inclusion Of Traditional Rulers, Native Intelligence In Terrorism Fight

The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Akeem Owoade, has called for urgent integration of traditional institutions and native intelligence into the country’s national counter-terrorism strategy to address the country’s complex security challenges.

Oba Owoade stressed that unless and until development challenges were seriously addressed via a genuinely people-oriented development strategy, enduring security is likely to elude the country.

The Alaafin stated this while addressing personnel of the Police, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the Amotekun Corps, and members of local security forces established by the monarch.

According to a statement sent to LEADERSHIP on Thursday by Bode Durojaye, the director of Media and Publicity to the monarch, the outfit was organised to check the infiltration of bandits in the villages and forests within the vicinity of the metropolis and Oke Ogun areas and flush them out.

Alaafin maintained that traditional rulers and native intelligence were crucial, yet often underutilised assets in Nigeria’s counter-terrorism efforts, primarily through community engagement and intelligence gathering.

“According to him, “Their deep local roots and implicit trust among the populace enable them to access information and foster cooperation that state security agencies often struggle to achieve.

“Traditional rulers are well-positioned at the grassroots level to gather native intelligence on the entry and exit of unknown persons, suspicious activities, and potential threats.”

He added that native intelligence complements formal intelligence mechanisms by providing crucial local context, knowledge of the terrain, and insight into local customs and nuances, which is vital for effective counter-terrorism operations.

The monarch charged the government to take a holistic view on information gathering as a system for addressing insecurity, adding that this must consider harmonising the roles of security agencies and deployment of technologies required to identify criminals.

“Nigeria is not the only country facing security challenges today. The fundamental thing is how you deal with these challenges. We can sustain national security operations or options by using native intelligence gathering as a response to national security threat,” he said.

The combined security team is headed by the Oyo Area Police Commander, Olufemi Abaniwonda, an Assistant Commissioner of Police.