Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi has expressed worry over the rising cases of kidnappings in the state, revealing that it has been established that local citizens were collaborating with foreign elements in perpetrating the act.

Fayemi who spoke while hosting members of the Ekiti Council of Elders led by its Vice President, Chief Deji Fasuan in his office in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital noted that the government was quietly going after the criminal elements in the state, especially kidnappers, adding that a good number have been apprehended and would soon be charged to court.

The chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum warned criminals and miscreants to steer clear of the state, “as the state already installed monitoring devices in several parts of the state, thereby leaving no hiding place for criminals.

“On security, it’s a major concern and we are doing quite a lot that the public may not be aware of, as a matter of fact, we are making very many arrests of the people involved in a kidnapping involving some of our own local people and the other elements from outside the state who perpetrate these horrific kidnapping in the state,” Fayemi said.

While assuring members of the Ekiti Council of Elders that their welfare will always be accorded priority, he added that plans had been concluded for the commissioning of the Elderly Citizens Resort Centre, in Ado Ekiti, the state capital by President Muhammadu Buhari in the coming weeks.

He said he decided to build the resort as a payback for the elders who have spent the better parts of their lives serving the people both within and outside the state and for supporting his administration over the years.

The Governor, who commended some of the elders for their roles in the actualization of the creation of Ekiti State, reiterated his commitment to ensuring that the construction of the deplorable Ado-Akure road becomes a reality, adding that he has also initiated a negotiation with the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to assist in the construction of the road.

He however added that his government has opened an alternative road from Ado-Ekiti through Ilawe to Akure and making efforts to finish and commission for use the Ado Airport before he lives office on October 16.

According to him, “I am also glad that we completed the elders’ resort centre, there are still one or two things, we would definitely finish them before I live office, the road that you mentioned, we would do that, we would also equip the Centre. It is likely that the President is coming towards the end of the month or early October, and he may commission the building. It is important that we do this because this is a monument to all the efforts of our elders in the council and all the support we receive from you over the years and the interest you continue to show in the progress and development of Ekiti.

“We are not giving up on Ado-Akure road before the end of the year, the new attempt we are making to get NNPC to help us with the road would come to fruition, but that is definitely one sour point that I am also not happy about and that we should do all to get it going. In the alternative, the positive is that the airport would be ready for use very soon,” he emphasised.

Earlier, Chief Fasuan expressed the appreciation of Ekiti elders to the governor for taking the issue of security seriously in the state and urged him to address the completion of the Ado-Ifaki road as well as revisit the construction of the Ado-Akure road with the Federal Government. (Tribune)

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