Oyo State Governor, Mr Seyi Makinde, had said governors need the cooperation of the police and other federal security forces to enforce the anti-open grazing law enacted to stop frequent clashes between herdsmen and farmers.
The governor said state police would have helped to enforce the law.
Makinde, according to a statement from his Chief Press Secretary, Taiwo Adisa, on Monday said this when he held an overnight meeting with the Ibarapa people in Igboora.
The meeting had in attendance the Speaker, Oyo State House of Assembly, Hon’Debo Ogundoyin, Commissioners, Chairmen and members of Boards and Parastatals, members of the State House of Assembly and all the political appointees from the Ibarapa zone.
Makinde said, “Quite frankly, the governors are at the mercy of federal security agencies to implement certain laws.
“That was why we asked for state police. In the first instance, it is a constitutional issue and, in the absence of having that, governors in the South West came together and formed Amotekun as a stop-gap.
“Problems don’t go away completely. But you have to keep working at them, keep pushing to get to where you really want to be and that is what we will keep doing.
“But the law is there, though the implementation has not been smooth, we will keep working at it.”
The governor commiserated with the families that have lost loved ones to the insecurity situation, saying, he felt their pains.
He stated he had had a very close interaction with Dr. Fatai Aborode in the past. I commiserate with his family and many others who have lost loved ones to this situation.
Makinde charged political office holders from the area to always speak out anytime they discovered that things were not going the ways they ought to in the area.
He said, “The take-home from the interaction for me is that it is a collective problem and I can see the commitment from everybody to find a solution to this.
“And, at least, I am quite glad that some of the initiatives that the government is trying to put in place to stem insecurity are coming to fruition.
“We will ensure that our identity management programme takes off as quickly as possible. We will also ensure the setting up of peace and security committee that is all-encompassing in the councils.”
PUNCH
