The General Officer Commanding (GOC), 81 Division, comprising Ogun and Lagos states, Major General Mohammad Usman has sought collaboration and empowerment for officers of the Nigerian Army to combat kidnapping and other crimes within the state.
The Army General spoke when he paid a courtesy call to Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta on Wednesday.
General Usman while appreciating the Governor and the government for being supportive of the Army and other security agencies in the discharge of their duties, called for the empowerment of the men in the Forward Operation Base, along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, to enable them confront cases of kidnapping headlong.
The Army Chief said maximum cooperation was needed from the government to ensure that any threat of insecurity is nipped in the bud to prevent what is happening in other parts of the country from taking hold in the South West.
The Governor addressimg the delegation said that his administration is deploying drones, helicopters and other technological innovations to address security challenges in the State.
The Governor said constant movement of people to the state due to its strategic location as the industrial, religious and educational capital of the country, has put a lot of pressure on the security architecture of the State, hence the need to involve technology in tackling the menace.
He said, “We have of recent acquired some drones and these drones are meant to help us in aerial surveillance knowing fully well that it will be impossible for us to have enough boots to cover all the dark spots in the State.”
“Because of that, we have chosen to deploy technology believing that with that, we can see where crimes are being intended to be committed and that can be neutralised before they are committed.
“We have also requested for a helicopter from the Nigeria Police to assist our law enforcement agencies and the Inspector General of Police has obliged us and the helicopter has since been in the State and any time there are distress calls especially from kidnap situations, the helicopter will be able to fly there within minutes and when this happens, the kidnappers are not able to move too far from the crime scene and this will make it easy for securitymen to move in and intervene.”
Prince Abiodun said his administration revived the OP- MESA and also set up a task force to patrol the Ogun State side of
the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway to tackle the menace of kidnapping.
According to him, as a result of the intervention, kidnapping has been reduced to the nearest minimum in the axis.
He promised to provide more support to the Forward Operation Base (FOB) on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway as well as the one at the Muhammadu Buhari Estate along the Abeokuta-Siun-Sagamu Expressway for effective performance.
The governor appreciated men of the Nigerian Army and other security agencies for their untiring efforts, adding that this has contributed to the state being rated as one of the most peaceful in the country.
The Governor noted that the state would soon embark on the distribution of palliatives to ease the pain of the fuel subsidy removal, stating that the services of the military men would be needed to protect and ensure orderly distribution of the items.
