Ajimobi talks tough, vows to tame masterminds of violence in Oyo
Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State has warned that as Chief Security Officer of the state, he would not stand by and allow anyone, no matter their status, to jeopardize the hard-won peace of the last three and half years in the state.
He made this known in a release issued by his Special Adviser on Media, Dr. Festus Adedayo.
According to the governor, the trend of orchestrated violence in the state in the last few days points to a desperation by some politicians to destroy the flagship of the government’s performance which is peace and security.
The governor said that the Friday violence in the state where a policeman was shot and some other people were wounded in Oke Ado area of Ibadan while his meet-the-people-tour train was still in Ido Local Government, was a calculated attempt to “pollute the river of peace” in the state and give the impression that the Ajimobi government was not different from its predecessors whose governments were known to encourage thuggery, bloodletting and gangsterism.
He said that the violence which occurred at the Popoyemoja area of the state capital two days after where some thugs unleashed mayhem on the residents of the area could not be divorced from the bitter politics of the past and attempt to destroy the image of the government.
“Our people are not fooled. We have received high-profiled information that this sporadic violence was not an accident. Aware that peace is our government’s flagship in a state which under previous governments was like Syria and Afghanistan, opposition warlords have apparently grouped to return our state to its disgraceful past, all in the name of scoring cheap in-road into the hearts of the people during the 2015 elections,” the governor said.
While threatening to invoke the full wrath of the law on culprits of the violence, the governor said he would be failing in his
responsibility if he does not make scapegoat of those trying to make mincemeat of his peaceful pedigree.
“In the last three and half years, we have demonstrated to our people that ours is a government that cannot stand thugs and hooligans. Those who know us can testify that we have zero tolerance for violence and we are not about to renege on this. We believe that only peace can bring development. This has worked because in the last few years, investments have started pouring into Oyo State,” he said.
The governor said he is working in partnership with members of the Security Council of the state to smoke out violent people from the state, promising the people of the state that he would not rest on his oars in maintaining the peace that is the hallmark of the government.
“Let me warn perpetrators of violence and their masterminds that an end has come to their foray in Oyo. No matter how highly placed they may be, we will smoke them out of our state,” he vowed.
