Ismaeel Uthman
TRADITIONAL rulers in the State of Osun have urged the state government and police to address insecurity in the state, saying the spate of killings is worrisome.
This is just as Osun Civil Societies Coalition and Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) decried incessant cult clashes and thuggery activities in the state.
OSUN DEFENDER noted that there has been an upsurge in cult related killings and thuggery activities in the state, particularly in Ilesa, Ede and Osogbo.
A notorious gang led by one Rasidi Oko-Ilu has been having running battle with another gang and a section of Oodua Peoples Congress in Ede, a situation that has turned the peaceful town into a battle field.
The Timi of Ede, Oba Munirudeen Lawal, last Thursday, raised the alarm over the spate of killings by hoodlums in the town, calling for an urgent government intervention.
Oba Lawal said killings and other violent activities of the hoodlums in the town was becoming unbearable, saying insecurity was very alien to the people of Ede until recently.
He expressed concern that undisclosed personal grudges between individual members of OPC, National Hunters Association, Vigilante Group and cultists metamorphosed into the crisis the community was witnessing.
The traditional ruler urged Federal and state government and the police to address the insecurity in his town, saying that security of lives and property is the primary responsibility of the government.
Also, the commander General of the Harmonised Vigilante Group, Ridwan Hussein, urged the state Governor, Mr Adegboyega Oyetola to intervene and end killings and other criminal activities in Ede.
Hussein while speaking to newsmen yesterday noted that Ede has come under series of attacks lately, which have resorted in loss of lives and destruction of property.
He absolved members of his group in the criminal acts, saying that those behind the current mayhem must be apprehended and dealt with.
Reacting to the incessant cult clashes in Ilesa which has claimed many lives, the Owa Obokun of Ijesaland, Oba Adekunle Aromolaran, called on security agencies in the state to be alive to their responsibilities.
Oba Aromolaran while speaking with newsmen recently, described the recent killings in Ilesa as disturbing and unacceptable.
He condemned the incessant menace of bloody cult attacks, especially on innocent resident, saying that it was high time security agencies restored order to his domain.
The monarch refuted claims in some quarters that he was treating the issue of cultism with a kid glove, appealing to the traditional rulers, chiefs and politicians to support the law enforcement agencies in effort at restoring peace in the land.
Similarly, the Osun Civil Societies Coalition (OCSC), yesterday declared that Osun was no longer a safe state it used to be.
The OCSC in a press statement signed by its Chairman and Vice Chairman, Comrades Waheed Lawal and Wale Folaranmi respectively, said the rate of killings in the state was alarming.
A copy of the press statement reads in part: “We are not unaware of the growing threats to security of lives and property of the people of Osun State. We state categorically that Osun is no longer a safe state that it used to be. There is a growing trend of insecurity with a side attraction of political violence.
“Recently, the Ooni of Ile-Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi declared a dusk to dawn curfew because of the incessant armed robbery in the city. The Aree in Council in Iree, the hosting community of Osun State Polytechnic, Iree also declared curfew because of armed robbery, kidnapping and ritual killings in the town few weeks ago.
“Cultists and hoodlums have been terrorising Ilesa and Ede consistently, leaving nothing less than eight people dead. Osogbo, the state capital is now an abode for both cultists and thugs. The rate at which thugs are ‘growing’ in Osogbo is alarming and this calls for concern from all rational residents of the state.
“All the security agencies in Osun state should please act fast in restoring the lost glory of Osun as one of the safest state in Nigeria. We specifically called on the Commissioner of Police to rise up to the core duty of policing.
“There is need to do more on the police activities as regard preventing and curtailing violence and other crimes, investigations and prosecution of the real perpetrators of crimes.”
Reacting to the activities of the cultists in the state, the Secretary of Committee for Defence of Human Right (CDHR), Comrade Emmanuel Olowu said cult clashes and thuggery activities are a threat to the security of lives and property and the peace of the state in general.
Olowu accused the government and police of paying lip service to addressing the menace of cultism and thuggery in the state, saying the security agencies know the sponsors of the criminal elements but turned blind eye to them.
According to Olowu, Osun state was gradually losing the glory of a peaceful state sequel to the sudden engagement of thugs by politicians
He therefore, urged the police to build and invest more in its investigation and intelligent gathering unit, just as he warned politicians to stop any act capable of causing unrest in the state.
