The Oyo state governor, Seyi Makinde, on Monday, cried out that his state is facing renewed security challenges from bandits who are entering the state from the North West states.

The governor raised the alarm while speaking in Ibadan at the annual interfaith service heralding the New Year 2025, held at the car park of the Governor?s Office.

Governor Makinde stated that ?the bad people from majorly the North-western zone, get in the heat, and they are relocating to Oyo state.?

Vowing that he will not sleep until the state is free from all forms of insecurity, Gov Makinde said: ?Year 2024 has been a challenging year, even in terms of safety and security. We had a few fire incidents, armed robbery, kidnappings, but what I would say is, we would redouble our effort in 2025. Some of these things, we will deal squarely with them.

?Just this morning, at the security briefing, because we do have a special operation going on right now, quite a number of the bad people from majorly the North-Western zone get in the heat, and they are relocating here. But we will find them out and we?ll deal with them.

?Because of the stampede last year, I went to Fashola, just to lie low for my birthday, and I can tell you that within less than maybe one and a half kilometers of where I was sleeping, you had bandits with camp in there.

?I want to charge all of us; we are all from different places, we are all from different zones, and also our traditional rulers, you are the custodian of the environment within your domain. This is no joke. It?s a serious issue, and for us in Oyo state, they will never get any foothold here, and I will not sleep until every inch of Oyo state is free of bandits and bad guys.?

He added that there is the need for the traditional rulers and the entire people of the state to be security conscious, saying, ?But you have to play your own part also. If you see any suspicious movement, please report to the authorities, and we will do something. It is in our collective interest.

?So I will like to use this opportunity to thank our service commanders. You have been doing your bit, and you have done very well for us in Oyo state. Nothing meaningful can happen in an atmosphere of insecurity. All the laudable things that we want to do, we won?t be able to do them, if we don?t have a safe and secure environment.? (Blueprint)

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