The people of Ifelodun local government area of Kwara State have gone spiritual in their bid to find solution to the security challenges plaguing their communities.
To this effect, the people on Tuesday held an interdenominational prayer to seek God’s intervention on the issues of security challenges.
The chairman of the local government council, Hon. Femi Yusuf, disclosed this on Wednesday during a press conference marking the first anniversary of his administration, held in Ilorin, the state capital.
Yusuf said that security challenges forced him to move the celebration of his first year in office to the state capital.
“We cannot be rejoicing when our people are crying. This is the reason why we are holding this press briefing in Ilorin.
“We have resorted to seeking God’s intervention in our bid to get out of the security challenges facing our communities in Ifelodun local government. That was why we organised an interdenominational prayer yesterday (Tuesday),” he stated.
He, however, alleged that the people of the area were complicit in the insecurity saga, saying that, “virtually all our people have become informants to the criminals terrorising their communities.”
He also clarified that no part of the local government area had been taken over by the criminals, pointing out that “the criminals are operating from their enclaves.”
“These criminals are operating from their enclaves and they had lived with us for about 15 years. They are not strangers, therefore, they understand the terrains. And the truth is that some of their victims are Fulani,” he added.
The council chairman, however, acknowledged the fatherly support of the state governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, for the people of the area, noting that, “the governor sees himself as one of us and he’s treating us as members of his family.”
For his part, the council chairman said his administration procured 20 motorcycles to support local security outfits, employed and trained 100 forest guards, supplied 50 units of bulletproof vests, and provided them with modern security gadgets as well as enrolling them in the health insurance scheme.
He added: “We also created Ifelodun Road Traffic Marshals to prevent accidents during market days in Ganmo, Amoyo and Iyana Share market. We institutionalised a non-indigenous registration drive to have accurate data of all residents.
“While commending the traditional council for their timely support in collaborating with the state government to chase out non-state actors from our land, we have continued to carry them along in our administration. We have provided identity cards for all Obas and Baales in the local government, issued official numbers plates to first-class rulers, and commenced the same process for second, third, and fourth class rulers.
“We appreciated the prompt efforts of the Kwara State government under the leadership of His Excellency, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and the office of the National Security Adviser for coming to boost the security forces.”
