Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State has called for more deployment of security personnel to the state for effective patrol of the border towns.
Akeredolu made the call when the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Operations, DIG Abdulmajid Ali, paid him a courtesy visit in Akure on Wednesday.
The governor, who was represented by his Deputy, Mr Agboola Ajayi, stressed the need for the police to man the state’s border towns with states such as Edo, Kogi and Ogun to curtail movement of criminal elements.
Akeredolu charged the police to always work in synergy with the communities, saying such cooperation would allow for credible information to ease their burden of intelligence gathering.
”The insecurity in the nation is not limited to Ondo State, but the recent happenings in Ondo has always put our state in the news everyday.
“We want to appeal to you to do whatever you can in the area of deployment of more policemen to Ondo State. We will appreciate it.
”I want you to always engage the communities. The community is very important.
“And you will agree with me that even if you have two hundred thousand policemen on ground, you will still need the cooperation of the people to effectively carry out your job effectively,” he said.
Akeredolu used the occasion to again challenged the police to fish out and parade culprits in the recent killing of Olufunke Olakunri, daughter of the Afenifere leader, Pa Reuben Fasoranti.
“Though there is no life that is not important to us, the Ondo State government and the people of Ondo State are demanding that the police should quickly apprehend the killers.
“We are waiting for the day that the police will parade and say these are the people who are killers of the woman,” he said.
Earlier, Ali lauded the Ondo State Government’s support for the state police command.
He extended force authority’s condolence to the state government and the family of the Late Olakunri, promising that the perpetrators would be brought to book.
Ali said the visit to the state, which would extend to other Southwest states, was to study the security situation in the zone with a view to finding areas of improvement.
According to him, a special squad of the force is currently undergoing special training and a good number of them will be deployed to the state to combat criminality. (NAN)