The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi has said that one of the plans to restore normalcy to the security situation in the Southwest is to fish out Fulani people that have constituted themselves into security risk and banished from the region.The Ooni, who responded to reporters’ questions shortly after an audience with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja today, July 31, admitted that not all the Fulani herdsmen are bad.
Ooni said that the call for the Fulanis to leave Southwest was because of the tension they have brought to bear on the region, but that such call is no longer necessary.
“Well, it was because of the tension but this time around, the traditional rulers have arrived at a resolution to ensure that that will not happen. It is the bad ones that should be focused on. We all live in Nigeria: it is the bad ones that have come in from different borders that are poroused. Those are the ones we will focus on to separate the corn from wheat.
“We are saying the bad ones should leave. The bad ones can never stay. Even Mr. President is with us on that. Even the Fulani clan do not want the bad ones to spoil their name. So many people are hiding under Fulanis to do evil now, so the bad ones must go.”
The Ooni, who led other traditional rulers from the Southwest to the meeting with the President said that in the new security arrangement, policemen and officers will be recruited from among people born and living in the various communities in the region.
“Community policing, so that they will recruit policemen and officers from
“We were told about community policing so the policemen will be recruited from the community: those that were born there, brought up there and they won’t be able to move them around. So we can use that strategy to avert a lot of tension going around the south west in particular now. We were able to achieve that milestone.
“Another milestone we achieved is that Mr President will fast track very rapid monitoring of our forests by using the technology of modern standard, the drones. The various security agencies will rally round the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and see how it can be properly deployed.
“Another thing is that they will install CCTV along our highways, the IGP said they are very aggressive about clearing our highways now.
“We believe that with all these there will be reduction in the tension in the Southwest because the Southwest is very sensitive in Nigeria. We don’t pray for crisis or war or uprising because it will snowball into a lot of things. That is why we are all represented from the six states that make up Southwestern Nigeria. We thank God that Mr. President is listening and so far so good, we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Asked if the monitoring of the CCTV was factored into the discussion, the monarch said: “Absolutely. This time around, it is a fruitful interactive session. “It is not the normal let’s talk the talk, we are talking the work and we are going to walk the talk.
“Because, we as traditional rulers we know our people, we know the good, the bad and ugly, and that is why the government is taking it to another level by involving us directly on how to implement their initiatives.
“If they want to start community policing and they give it to politicians, it is not going to work. That is why they are involving us. Because, we know the people that are born within our communities: we know how to recommend them for this kind of employment. We know the good ones that will be willing to serve their communities. So by doing that, we will have crime reduction in our communities, because each community is peculiar.
“So, what government is doing now is a different ball game entirely. It had never been done before. So we should all work, cooperate with the government and see how they will implement them.
“Because, the problem has been that if you take police officers to the north, within six months they will shift them to another place in the south. They are not domiciled there and so any time they get there, they depend on the vigilantes, community heads, the Mogajis, the Baales and all the districts heads, so why can’t you give the jobs to the families of the Mogajis, the Baales, and all the districts heads? “So, it is a different rejigging and I can assure you the government is very serious now.”
