Gani Adams, the Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, has asked Mohammed Adamu, the Inspector-General of Police, to redeploy Ngozi Onadeko, the Oyo Commissioner of Police, over her handling of the case involving Iskilu Wakili, a suspected Fulani kidnapper.
Adams made the request in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Aderemi, on Sunday.
Three members of the OPC Awodele Adedigba, Dauda Kazeem, and Hassan Ramon are currently in detention on six counts of conspiracy, arson and murder.
According to the ‘General” of Yorubaland, the insistence of the Oyo CP to detain three members of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) that handed over Wakili to the police is questionable.
He stated that the murder and arson charges raised against the three OPC members are capable of destroying the trust the citizens have in the police in reporting criminals.
The statement read: “Last week, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III, expressed concern at the spate of insecurity in the state. Kabiesi lamented that over 70 per cent of farmers in Oke Ogun, Ibarapa and its environs could no longer go to their farms because of the fear of being kidnapped and killed by bandits and criminal Fulani herdsmen.
“From what Kabiesi had said, it is no doubt that there is impending danger lurking around the state. If farmers couldn’t go to their farms, then there would be famine and shortage of food in the State.
“I am appealing to IGP Adamu and the police service commission to redeploy the Oyo CP.”
Adams also alleged that many of the kidnappers apprehended by the OPC and other local security operatives have returned to their base to perpetrate more crimes.
The statement read: “I want to also urge the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, to cooperate with the IGP in ensuring that the state is safe for all and sundry because from the reports at my disposal, kidnappers are now returning to Ibarapa.
“What becomes of the police when people cannot trust them as an institution? It is unfortunate for the police to accuse the three members of our group for murder and arson after they had assisted them in apprehending Iskilu Wakili, a suspected Kidnap warlord that had been terrorising the people of Ibarapa and its environs.
“But, we wouldn’t be discouraged in our effort. We will continue to play our roles in ensuring that our region is safe against criminal elements.”