By Toba Babalola
The Ekiti Elders and other relevant stakeholders from all parts of the State have met to profer strategic approaches to end the killings, kidnapping of citizens and destruction farm crops by suspected herders.
At a Statewide Conference on Securing in Ekiti, organized at the instance of the Ekiti Elders’ Council at the Adetiloye Hall, Ado Ekiti, Speakers advocated a collective approach to tackle the insecurity and fortify the State against any further attacks.
The StateWide Conference which was to ruminate on how to fortify the State against incesssant attacks was attended by the Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi represented by his Deputy, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi, former Governor, Engineer Segun Oni, former Deputy Governors, Paul Alabi and Abiodun Aluko, members of the Ekiti Elders Council, Traditional Rulers, Clerics, Representatives of Security Agencies, Traditionalists, Hunters, among others.
The Chairman, Ekiti Council of Elders, Professor Joseph Oluwasanmi noted that despite the efforts of the State Government to provide surveillance gadgets, logistics to Security Agencies and setting up of Amotekun Corps, criminal activities had continued unabated.
This he said had led to illegal occupation of farmsteads, government reserved forests and river basins.
Professor Oluwasanmi explained that the forum was to create awareness among Ekiti citizens about the insecurity in the land and the need for them to be security conscious at all times.
The Chairman of the Occasion and Bishop, Catholic Diocese of Ekiti, Most Reverend Felix Ajakaye, observed that the current situation in the country where inhabitants become refugees in their homeland signified that no one was longer safe.
The Bishop said that sensitive security tips given should be implemented, while suggesting the setting up of neighborhood watch across the communities of the State.
Bishop Ajakaye who described members of the Ekiti Council of Elders as true activists frowned on the National and State Legislators’ absence from Statewide Conference to secure Ekiti State
The Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi through his Deputy, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi said that the quest to ensure the safety of lives and property of all Ekiti Citizens by his Government is sacrosanct.
Governor Fayemi who was the Special Guest of Honour at the forum promised not to relent in securing the State and its people from the hands of marauders.
He sought the concerted efforts of all stakeholders irrespective of political, religious and traditional differences to nip in the bud the nefarious act, while also calling on the people to support the security agencies with necessary information to apprehend the perpetrators.
