The Ekiti State Government has said that the spate of kidnapping and other criminal activities increased in the state after the withdrawal of military personnel from checkpoints across the state.
The Deputy Governor Bisi Egbeyemi, who made the observation, therefore, called on the military to restrategize on tackling security challenges bedeviling the state by returning military checkpoints on the highways.
In a statement on Sunday signed by his Special Assistant (Media), Odunayo Ogunmola, the Deputy Governor called on the military to look for more alternative means of preventing men of the underworld from perpetrating their nefarious activities.
Egbeyemi made the call at a church service to mark this year’s Armed Forces Remembrance Day which took place at the Government House Chapel, Ado Ekiti, the state capital.
The Deputy Governor spoke in response to the remarks of the Brigade Commander of the Nigerian Army 323 Artillery Regiment, Akure, Brig.-Gen. James Ataguba, that “the soldiers were withdrawn from checkpoints to more fluid areas to enable them respond swiftly to any case of insecurity reported to them.”
Alluding to the security measures obtainable in other countries, Egbeyemi urged them to take cue from their strategies to rid the country of kidnappers and criminals.
“In Nigeria, the security system is not as it is abroad, you must have gone out to some of these countries. And those of us who have been to Britain, American and China, you must have seen military men in the market and everywhere watching over the people.
“We should imbibe the same spirit to make sure that we are safe. We need to keep Nigeria one by making sure they are safe.”
