A former lawmaker, who represented Oyo South Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Senator Olufemi Lanlehin has condemned Governor Seyi Makinde for his handling of the security crisis in the Ibarapa/Oke Ogun area of the state.
The former lawmaker noted that while the governor considered the right of the killer herders to live in any part of the country, he failed to respect the right of the host community to live full life devoid of intimidation, killings and deprivation.
Lanlehin stated this on Sunday in a statement which he personally signed, adding that “I have observed, with deep concern, the rising wave of insecurity in Oyo State, advertised in the increasing cases of murder, armed robbery, kidnapping and all sorts of criminal activities.”
The former governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), further noted that from Ibadan to Oyo, Ogbomoso to Oke-Ogun, and Ibarapa, nowhere could be labelled as safe and peaceful.
He said: “More baffling is Governor Seyi Makinde’s inept handling of the entire situation, particularly his reactive and indecisive approach to tackling the most basic of challenges his administration can ever face.
“The recent incident whereby Chief Sunday Adeyemo, fondly referred to as Sunday Igboho, gave an ultimatum to the Seriki Fulani in Igangan is a case in point. With available information, one cannot but criticise Governor Makinde for his hasty and one-sided state-wide broadcast on the incident, and his biased upbraiding of Sunday Igboho, without as much as showing empathy with the victims of the rape, kidnappings, murder and farmland destruction allegedly perpetrated by some criminal elements within the herders community, under the guise of working as herdsmen.
“As usual, the governor was just being politically correct, and excessively populist in that broadcast of his, when he should have been balanced, and not appear to pander to the whims and caprices of the supposed afflicters. Why couldn’t he have invited both parties to a meeting and set in motion the process to an amicable resolution or even pay an on-the-spot assessment to Igangan instead of rushing to broadcast his jaundiced opinion? Till date, there is no evidence of the governor having personally visited Ibarapaland in his capacity as the state’s Chief Security Officer.”
Lanlehin, who called on Governor Makinde not to be carried away by the euphoria of office or the allure of power, counselled him to be guided by deep introspection, wise counsel and an abiding devotion to the protection of the lives and property of the people of Oyo State.
