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OPINION: When Bandits Took Over Ondo State

Published

3 months ago

March 16, 2025

By Festus Adedayo

Ondo State was in the news for the bad reason last week. A gale of killings, kidnapping and demand for ransom swept through the Akure North and South local governments of the state. Armed assailants were said to have stormed Aba Alajido, Aba Sunday, Aba Pastor, and Ademekun communites of the Akure North Local Government Area. By the time the flakes had settled, deaths, caked blood and destruction dotted the landscape, with weeping, wailing and gnashing of the teeth as the victims and their families’ companions. From 20 villagers allegedly killed, fourteen bodies were said to have been recovered.

This bad news had hardly subsided when on Tuesday, same last week, nine surveyors were also said to have been kidnapped. Reports said they had been working at a site in a village in Ilu-Abo, Akure North Local Government Area of the state. After the abduction of the surveyors, their abductors were said to have made a demand of the sum of N100m to secure their release. This led to protests by individuals, market women and organizations which called on the governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, to face the business of protecting the people which is central to the mandate given him by the people. Earlier, on January 31, along the Benin-Owo-Akure road at the Ifon area of Ose Local Government Area of the state, seven travelers from Akwa Ibom State were abducted by bandits in a commercial bus.

In Nigeria of today, the sad reality is that. no state is totally immune from violence, banditry and insecurity. In virtually all components of Nigeria, countrymen sleep with one eye closed, making the security situation a national affliction that cannot be tackled with rhetoric. With these in mind, no one can totally harangue Ondo State and its authorities for the deluge of violence that aims at the state’s jugular. However, there is a lot to be bothered about when government’s response or lack thereof is tame and perceived to be a reflection of incompetence.

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Yes, I am aware that governments in the Third World, try to de-numericize figures of casualties. So, if 20 people, for instance, suffer casualty in a disaster, governments keep the figure down to a tolerable numeral. The mind behind this, especially in Nigeria, is that actual figures could attract national bile towards the government. But, I have hardly seen where governments look at the face of their people and tell brazen lies.

The first indication of tame leadership response to the Ondo State insecurity came from government’s response. Just like Goodluck Jonathan did when the news of the kidnap of the Chibok girls got to him, responding with unbelief that it ever happened, the Ondo State government lived in denial of the calamity for almost 48 hours. Feelers from within it said government believed that the killing took place outside of Ondo State and its political enemies were merely weaponizing the killings by claiming it happened in the state. Their conviction was that this was done for the purpose of embarrassing the state government. Jonathan, I am sure, is yet to recover from the effect of this. When a Chief Security Officer of a state shows this level of absence, it is obvious the state is done for.

Thus, while addressing women protesters on behalf of the governor, the Special Adviser on Union Matters and Special Duties, Mr Bola Taiwo, gave the indication that mental rigour was lacking in the Alagbaka Government House. Taiwo’s response to the kidnapping of the surveyors was to blame them for getting themselves kidnapped. Their specific sin, the adviser said, was that they went to the site without security protection.

“We shall speak with your leaders if they have reported the incident to the police. If they have not, they should go there and report, that’s when the government would act. Nowadays, surveyors going to the site should go with police escorts. If they do, no gunmen would abduct them. No one can kidnap anyone without internal collaborators,” Taiwo said. He also told the women to return to Ilu-Abo and pursue their demand for the release of the surveyors. “You shall now go back to Ilu-Abo and cry out that those who abducted the surveyors should release them. No Hausa or Fulani man can come to Ilu-Abo and kidnap without the connivance of one of the natives. It is your people that kidnapped the nine surveyors. We will meet with your leaders and discuss with them,” he said magisterially. The same adviser was on a radio station to continue these doggerel verses which incensed the people of the state.

In saner clime, after that statement, Taiwo should be history in government. When a government hires an adviser who speaks this vacuously and leashlessly, then you need not look further as to why there is paucity of rigour and vision in the activities of the government. The appointive authority should be blamed.

However, the good news is that Governor Aiyedatiwa has sworn to do the needful. At a press conference thereafter, he talked about procuring drones to fight the bandits who seem to have convoked on the state. God bless the soul of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu. He led the establishment of the Amotekun security network in the southwest and ensured that his state reflected the frown of Yorubaland against invaders of whatever extraction. Now that Aiyedatiwa has the knife, can he face the smoke, pull out his chestnut from the fire and govern Ondo State? It will be a calamity if Ondo State perceives that it has an accidental governor. While you need small luck to become a governor, plenty brain is needed to administer it.

News

World Ocean Day: HOMEF Wants An End To Human’s Exploitative Relationship With The Ocean

Published

5 hours ago

June 8, 2025

Editor

By Joseph Ebi Kanjo

Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) has called for an end to human’s exploitative, violent, and destructive relationship with the ocean even as the world marks World Ocean Day today, 8 June, 2025.

In a statement issued by Kome Odhomor, Media/Communications Lead, HOMEF, to mark this year’s World Ocean Day with the theme: ‘Wonder: Sustaining What Sustains Us,’ the ecological think tank organisation said Ocean is not just a water but an ecosystems which “supply a substantial amount of oxygen to the atmosphere and offer various services that ensure the survival of all species on Earth.

“Climate change, primarily caused by human activities, is impacting the ocean. Dead zones are proliferating, pollution from minerals and fossil fuel extraction and production processes is occurring, unsustainable industrial fishing practices are occurring, intentional waste dumping is occurring, and disturbances of the ocean floor and seabeds are among a long list of destructive activities.

“As ocean surface temperatures increase, global warming will also rise. Therefore, protecting the ocean from these forms of degradation would ultimately safeguard the Earth. Let’s protect the ocean and force others to respect it because we are the ocean; we are part of the ocean family.”

Odhomor, in the statement made available to INFO DAILY on Sunday, quoted the Executive Director of HOMEF, Dr. Nnimmo Bassey, as saying the World Ocean Day is celebrated annually on 8 June to underscore the immeasurable importance of the world’s ocean and garner support for their protection.

Bassey in the statement lamented that despite the importance, the ocean and other water bodies are continuously subjected to a barrage of assaults at local, national, and international levels.

“The concept that the ocean cycles itself and acts as a greenhouse gas sink has been misconstrued to mean that the ocean can filter and clean itself no matter what is dumped in it.

“The ocean and other waterbodies have become dumpsites of all sorts, polluting and extreme exploitation.

“There are a lot of unusual activities going on in our waters that must not be allowed to continue if we want a healthy ocean and planet,” he noted.

Bassey further stated that “corporate interests have been substituted for national and people-centred interests, as communities that live along the coasts, bear the brunt of such abnormalities. Now is the time for all to rise to the occasion to protect the ocean. The continued burning of the Ororo Oil well over a period of five years is a sad commentary on ecocide on our waters.”

Also lending his voice, Stephen Oduware, a Programme Manager with HOMEF and Coordinator of the Fishnet Alliance, a network of fishers across Africa, emphatically noted that the world’s fisheries depend on the ocean.

“The two major sides of the ocean bordering Africa – the Atlantic and Indian, along with their associated gulfs, are experiencing shortfalls in fishing due to vested and powerful interests. Industrial fishing, including the use of bottom trawlers, is partly responsible for unsustainable fishing and illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in the region.

“These practices not only harm fisheries but also harm the ocean and create imbalances in the ecosystems the ocean supports. These unchecked activities in the territorial waters of Africa must stop. Fishers of the world unite,” he noted.

News

Edo Rep Member Distances Self From Cultism, Says Allegation Politically Motivated

Published

6 hours ago

June 8, 2025

Editor

By Joseph Ebi Kanjo

Hon. Marcus Onobun, member representing Esan West, Esan Central and Igueben Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, has described as false the rumours making the rounds that he’s involved in Cult-related activities in Iruekpen, Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State.

The Edo rep member, in a disclaimer titled: ‘Re: Disclaimer on Alleged Cult-related Issues in Iruekpen’, which was made available to INFO DAILY on Sunday, said the allegations of his involvement in cultism were not only “false and baseless, unfounded but they also appear to be politically motivated, attempts to tarnish my hard-earned reputation, distraction from the developmental strides we are making, and undermine the trust and confidence the good people of Iruekpen and beyond have reposed in me.”

He stressed, “For the avoidance of doubt, I am not directly or indirectly involved in cultism nor have I ever supported, encouraged, financed, or participated in any activity that promotes it in any form whatsoever.”

Hon. Onobun, who stated that the last time he visited Edo State was 22nd April, 2025, noted that the allegation was to “lay a foundation for their wicked and clandestine plan to silence the opposition.”

He explained that though he got information from a reliable source that there was a clash in the community (Iruekpen) between two indigenes, such clash was never bear his residence but in a brothel.

“I am a firm believer in the rule of law, democratic principles, and peaceful co-existence,” he said.

The Edo rep member, while stating that security and safety of his constituents top is priority, urged the “media and the general public to exercise due diligence and verify facts before spreading information capable of causing panic and reputation damage.”

“The security and safety of our people tops my priorities as a federal lawmaker, as no development sees the light of the day in an unsafe environment, thus, the recently commissioned Police station in Iruekpen community,” he added.

Onobun urged “those behind these malicious fabrications,” to “desist from the politics of character assassination,” noting that “our community deserves leaders and citizens who promote unity, progress, and constructive dialogue not divisiveness and falsehood.”

He added: “I remain committed to the service of my people and to the peace, growth, and development of Iruekpen as my immediate community and the entire federal constituency at large. No amount of smear campaigns will deter me from fulfilling my mandate and standing for truth, justice, and good governance.”

News

Democracy Day: FG Declares June 12 Public Holiday

Published

9 hours ago

June 8, 2025

Editor

The Federal Government has declared Thursday, 12th June, 2025 as Public Holiday in commemoration of this year’s Democracy Day celebration.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Interior, Dr Magdalene Ajani in a statement on Sunday in Abuja said the Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made the declaration on behalf of the Federal Government.

The minister congratulated Nigerians on the occasion of 26 years of uninterrupted civil rule.

He said; “June 12 represents our historic journey to building a nation where truth and justice reign and peace is sustained and our future assured.

“The last 26 years tells the story of our resilience, strength and courage and a hope Renewed than ever.”

Noting that democracy is sustained with open doors for further improvement, the minister reiterated the commitment of the Renewed Hope government of President Bola Tinubu to the universal value of democracy, based on freely-expressed will of the people in determining Nigeria’s political, economic, social and cultural systems.