Intelligence Still Most Potent Tool Against Insecurity – Makinde

Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has said intelligence remains the most potent tool to tackle the problem of insecurity and sundry crimes rocking the country.

The governor who stated this at a three-day training to improve the performance of the officers and men of the Oyo State Security Network Agency codenamed Amotekun Corps said it was packaged to sharpen the intelligence-gathering and investigative skills of the Amotekun Corps.

According to him, it will enhance their abilities to nip crime in the bud before it is committed.

Declaring the training open, Makinde who was represented by the chief of staff, Otunba Segun Ogunwuyi, said intelligence remained the most potent tool to stop crimes.

At the event, which was held at the Amotekun State Headquarters, Moniya, Ibadan, the governor said it had become imperative to apply intelligence-gathering and analysis to the conventional method of fighting crime.

Makinde commended the leadership and men of the Amotekun Corps on their comportment and how they have cooperated with other security agencies to secure lives and property of the residents of the state.

He added that with good leadership, the state had been able to prove to the whole world that “It is possible for the conventional Police, DSS and others to work with our own home-grown Amotekun Corps.

“Obviously, we have experts here and I am only here to declare the workshop open. Security intelligence gathering is an act of collecting, standardising and analysing data. It is a great tool in crime prevention as it enables crimes to be nipped in the bud even before they are committed.

“It is important to apply intelligence gathering to the conventional method of fighting crime. If we just go about with guns and cutlasses and say we are fighting crime, I am sorry, we have not done anything. If we put our minds to gathering intelligence, a lot of crimes will not even be committed in the first place.’