By Bose Adelaja
CITIZENS COMPASS – FOLLOWING activities of cultism which has almost labelled Ogun State as a war war zone, the state governor, Dapo Abiodun has pledged to stamp out cultists declaring their activities as an act of terrorism in the state.
The Governor disclosed this on Friday, May 5, 2023, during a stakeholders’ engagement and security meeting on the recent breach of peace in Sagamu Local Government.
According to him, this will be done through collaboration with security agencies and traditional institutions within Sagamu and its environs in order to curb these unsettling attacks and make perpetrators accountable for their actions.
Abiodun said he considered cultists and other criminal element as saboteurs to the state economy saying, ” we have instructed our law enforcement agencies to smoke these people out to face the full wrath of law.”
He said another way to achieve this is raiding of illicit drug hideouts in Sagamu and its environs
He directed security agencies to carry out systematic raids in identified places where vendors of hard and other illicit drugs operate in Sagamu and its environs.
The governor also gave the directive in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, when he received the new State Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC), Mr. David Idowu Ojelabi and that of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Mrs. Ibiba Jane Odili, when they paid him a courtesy visit.
Abiodun who expressed his displeasure over the activities of cultists in the local government area, attributed their devilish behaviour to the influence of hard drugs.
“I personally visited the location where drugs are being freely sold in the evenings and I remarked that this should be brought to the attention of the Commandants of the NDLEA, Civil Defence, Commissioner of Police, State Director of the DSS and other Law enforcement architecture to go on a mission and raid that place.
“I want you to rid the entire Sagamu of drugs peddlers, sellers and drug abusers. This will go a long way to restoring peace and confidence to our citizens in Sagamu.
“Cultism is one of our challenges and we are ready to deal with those involved. As the industrial, education and religious capital of this nation, we will not allow hoodlums to threaten the peace of this state and so we are going to do everything possible to bring an end to this menace”, he oted.
He described as topnotch, security chiefs, posted to the state since his assumption of office, maintaining that their collaboration with the state government and other security agencies, had helped in addressing security challenges in Ogun.
“Ogun State enjoys a lot of inter-agency collaboration and this has made it possible for us to address security challenges. I want to urge the NSCDC to work with the police to rid our highways of miscreants. We will soon launch our drones and this will enable us tackle insecurity by locating hoodlums wherever they are hiding along our highways”, the governor added
He charged the new security chiefs to bring their wealth of experience into play by emulating their predecessors, emphasizing the need to adequately police the state to ensure people go about their legitimate businesses without being attacked.
In his remarks, the new NSCDC boss, Commandant Ojelabi, said he was in the state to work with the governor and other security chiefs for a crime-free society, calling on the state government to support him to achieve his objective.
Also speaking, Commandant Odili of the NDLEA, commended the state government for its developmental strides in the last four years.
She stressed that the use of illicit drugs has contributed to the health related problems Nigerians are facing, adding that she is in the State to complement the work of her predecessor of ridding the state of illicit drugs.
