A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State, Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, has called on the country’s service chiefs to adopt a more ruthless approach in tackling individuals involved in violent crimes.
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Speaking with journalists on Sunday in Osogbo, Oyintiloye acknowledged the efforts of security agencies in addressing the security challenges but emphasized that more decisive action is needed to end the ongoing killings in parts of the North and other regions of the country.
Oyintiloye expressed concern over the spate of killings by suspected bandits in Kwara, Borno, Zamfara, and Niger, noting that heads of security agencies must take the bull by the horn and go hard on those involved and their sponsors.
The former lawmaker said Nigerians are living in fear and anxiety across the country despite the efforts of the security agencies to bring the situation under control.
He subsequently urged service chiefs not to rest on their oars until they succeeded in winning the war against terrorist groups in the country.
Oyintiloye also urged them to ensure that they were not harbouring saboteurs and should utilise the human and material resources they have to crush the bandits and restore public confidence in them.
“There is no doubt that the service chiefs are doing their best to stop the killings by the bandits, but they need to be more ruthless with them until they quench insurgency in our land.
“I will also urge them to look inward and fish out those who might be working against their relentless efforts to crush the activities of the terrorists in the country completely.
“This is very important to restore public confidence in the security agencies.
“People are tired, and many of them are living in fear of the unknown due to the activities of those perpetrating violent crimes in the country,” he said.
Oyintiloye also highlighted the need for the service chiefs to involve local security networks in intelligence gathering to tackle the menace.
The party chieftain said that people, especially stakeholders living in different communities, must be engaged in intelligence gathering, noting that this would go a long way in preventing terrorist activities and their attacks.
Oyintiloye said that the security agencies should also target the financial backbone of terrorist groups in the country to complement their efforts.
He, however, commended President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly for providing the needed support and budgetary allocation for the security agencies to reduce violent crimes in the country.
He predicted that with the cooperation of all stakeholders, acts of faith, patriotism, honesty, and a positive mindset on the part of Nigerians, the country would defeat the menace of insecurity in due course.
