Oyo State Governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, has appealed for calm by families of victims kidnapped in Ahoro Esinele Community of Oriire Local Government Area of the state, on Friday, May 15, as he said that his government has been doing everything possible to rescue the seven teachers and a yet-to-be-ascertained number of pupils.
The governor stated this on Sunday, May 17, after holding a security review of the situation with his security advisers and service commanders.
Governor Makinde, who spoke with newsmen shortly after the meeting, according to a statement by his Special Adviser (Media), Dr Sulaimon Olanrewaju, expressed his sympathy to the families of victims of the abduction, noting that from reports, seven teachers were abducted while the number of abducted pupils is yet to be ascertained.
He announced the killing of one of the teachers, expressing his condolences to the family of the victim, while he equally sympathised with the families of some members of the tactical team of soldiers, Amotekun Corps and Local Vigilantes, who ran into Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) planted by the abductors during an effort to rescue the abducted teachers and students.
He stated that the wounded security personnel were responding positively to treatments and that the government would spare no cost in taking care of them.
Governor Makinde added that the government had resolved to explore the kinetic approach, which involves the use of military force and direct action as well as the non-kinetic approach, which is softer, in tackling the challenge.
He, however, noted that relatives of the abducted people, religious bodies and other interested parties would need to exercise patience as the government works round the clock to rescue the victims and reunite them safely with their families.
He said: “We just finished a review of the security situation in the local government area where the abduction of some teachers and schoolchildren took place.
“First, let me appeal to the families that are involved that their government is working round the clock to ensure that we tackle this challenge.
“And, for our troops and our service commanders, we have a few wounded soldiers and hunters and other operatives. They are recovering.
“The government will continue to take responsibility for ensuring that they fully recover and look after their medical bills.
“What we know right now is that seven teachers in all were abducted. And, unfortunately, we got a video this morning that one of the teachers, I understand the Maths teacher, was killed by the terrorists this morning. Of course, our prayers are with the family.
“We have decided that we will adopt not just the kinetic approach. But there have been a lot of threats and tempers have been rising, especially from a lot of our leaders, elders, and religious leaders. We have heard and seen your reactions, and, I want to say that we are not taking this lightly.
“I want to appeal to everybody; citizens, residents, particularly those in Oriire Local Government and the rest of Oyo State that we are doing everything within our power to ensure that we resolve this situation quickly and bring our children back safely. But we must recognise that it is a very difficult and challenging situation.
“So, please, there may not be quick fixes, but we will continue to endeavour to push ourselves to the limit to resolve this quickly.”
While fielding questions from newsmen, Governor Makinde explained that as part of efforts already taken to rescue the victims, government mobilised tactical teams comprising policemen, Amotekun, soldiers, hunters and other non-state actors to go after the terrorists, but that there was a slight set back as one of the teams ran into IEDs.
He noted, however, that the government has achieved a level of success with the operation, with some individuals already arrested in connection with the situation.
“Well, from the information available from the Commissioner of Police, about six individuals have been arrested within the locality. Some of them, we believe, are perhaps informants or people running logistics for the terrorists. Also, three individuals of interest have been arrested by another security outfit within the state.
Responding on how Oyo State is engaging with neighbouring states to curb the influx of terrorists into the state, the governor explained that the fact that there is pressure on terrorists and bandits in the North-West and North-East meant that they would move southwards, noting that since there is pressure on them from one side, the other side must work towards repelling or neutralising the threats.
“We must appreciate the fact that with the pressure on the terrorists and the bandits in the North-West and the North-East, they will keep moving southwards. So, we are talking. The governor of Kwara State has spoken to me but the problem that we have is when you have pressure in one place, we must be prepared on this side to also either repel or neutralize any terrorists that are fleeing the pressure point,” the governor added.
While assuring of his administration’s determination to secure every part of the state, Governor Makinde said, “We will keep pushing, keep retooling our architecture to look at the vulnerable points, be it schools, be it factories, be it even folks just driving from one place to the other.”
The governor also assured the citizens that they would be kept abreast of the progress being made with the rescue operation through a daily briefing.
