By YOMI AYELESO, Ado-Ekiti
As part of the proactive ways to forestall possible abduction of students, the Ekiti State government has revealed it has commenced fencing projects in public schools across the 16 Local Government Areas of the state.
The state governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, who disclosed this during his monthly media chat in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital noted that the project which had since started would be intensified to ensure maximum security in schools in the state.
The government’s decision was coming on the heels of the abduction of students in Kankara, Kaduna State; Kagara in Niger State and the most recent in Jangebe in Zamfara State.
To further boost the protection of lives and property, the governor also stated that more security personnel had been deployed across strategic locations in the state.
He said: “The Government of Ekiti State, in efforts to boost security, have ensured that primary and secondary schools across the 16 Local Government Areas of the state are adequately protected. In doing so, school fencing projects are ongoing beefing up security accordingly. Also, the Government has improved on security surveillance across the state, deploying more personnel to strategic locations for effective coverage.”
Fayemi who reiterated the need for the creation of state police to address growing security challenges in the country suggested that the National Police Council should be meeting quarterly where mainly security issues would be discussed and solutions proffered.
According to the chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum(NGF), the argument that state governors would deploy state police against opposition politicians was no longer acceptable, saying “the governors can still use the federal police against the opposition.”
He explained that the NGF has advocated the creation of state police for effective policing in the local areas, adding that security personnel must understand the terrain, culture, customs and language of people he is saddled to protect.
On the epileptic power in the state, the governor stated that arrangements are in top gear for the Independent Power Project, ” which will provide electricity for major public infrastructures such as Health, Education Institutions, Government Secretariat and other public facilities.” (Nigerian Tribune)