Lawmakers from Oke Ogun in the Oyo state House of Assembly have called on well meaning residents of the state, traditional institutions and the people of Oyo town to support even and equal distribution of developmental projects without bias across the state.
The seven lawmakers, namely Hon Mustapha Akeem Olawale, Kajola state constituency, Hon Dele Adeola, Iseyin/Itesiwaju state constituency, Hon Olayanju Kazeem, Irepo/Olorunsogo constituency, Hon Adedibu Hakeem, Iwajowa constituency, Hon Saminu Gbadamosi, Atisbo/Saki East constituency, Hon Femi Okedoyin, Saki West and Hon Lateef Olayiwola, Oorelope constituency in a press release jointly signed and made available to insideoyo.com on Wednesday, also urged the people of Oyo state not to politicize security matters.
The lawmakers stated that the Nigeria Police had approved the squadron for the state before the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III’s letter to President Muhammadu Buhari.
The release read in part: “We are the elected representatives of the ten local government areas of Oke Ogun and in a situation like this, if the righteous fail to make a statement in the face of heresies, agents of misrepresentations may as well take their lies for the gospel truth.
“We stand here today to condemn the lies and fabrications surrounding the siting of the MOPOL squadron in Ago Are. To put the record straight, it is not true and it is an attempt to politicise security to state that the said MOPOL SQUADRON was snatched from Oyo and given to Ago Are. Apart from its illogicality, it does not represent the true state of things even as shown in the paragraph 2 of His Royal Majesty, the Alaafin of Oyo’s letter.
“The Police had APPROVED the squadron for Oyo State BEFORE Kabiyesi wrote the President asking that the Squadron be stationed in OYO TOWN. So, at what point was the mopol squadron located in Oyo before it was relocated by the Governor?”
According to them, Oke Ogun needs the Police Squadron than Oyo town considering the distance between Oyo town to Ibadan and Kishi, a town in Oke Ogun, to Ibadan.
“The above fallacy apart, we may have to ask ourselves, between Oyo town and Oke Ogun, which region actually needs a Mopol Squadron in Oyo state. The distance between Oyo town and Ibadan, the state capital is less than 40 kilometers while between Ibadan and Kishi in Oke Ogun is 250 kilometers. The whole of Oke Ogun hitherto had no single Police formation even in the face of the constant security breaches in the zone occasioned by neglect of the past.
“The security architecture of Oyo town is one of the most potent in Nigeria. Oyo alone has seven Divisional Police headquarters (Atiba, Durbar, Ojongbodu, Awe, Fiditi, Ilora, Jobele), Oyo has one SARS unit, it has one Area Command, one Operation Burst Unit and Civil Defence personnel in all local governments. Why would anyone reasonably challenge the discretion of the Chief Security officer of the state in locating a MOPOL SQUADRON for an amalgam of ten local local government areas without any visible security architecture?
“Governor Seyi Makinde requested for and got approval for new MOPOL SQUADRON for Oyo state. As the chief security officer of the state, he located same in Oke Ogun zone, an area which has been marginalised by succeeding administrations. He never relocated what is due to Oyo town. Just as the Governor is accountable to the people of Oyo, he is also accountable to the people of oke Ogun and justice this time around requires that the MOPOL SQUADRON is better located in Oke Ogun than Oyo which is just a stone throw from Ibadan and with more than enough security architectures.
“Conclusively, we call on all well meaning Oyo state residents, traditional institutions and our friends and colleagues from Oyo town and environs to come together and support the development of the state without any bias irrespective of political affiliation, religious background or zonal/regional difference.” they concluded.
