Alara Decries Security Lapse in Epe, Solicits Government Intervention

By_ Babatunde Kaka.

• Says Herders in Viral Video were in Transit and not Chased out of Eredo, Epe.

Alara of Ilara Kingdom, Oba Olufolarin Ogunsanwo, Telade IV, has called on the Lagos State Government to improve the provision of logistics and personnel to shore up the overwhelmed security architecture in Epe.

Speaking with Eko Hot Blog in an interview on Saturday 20th June 2021, at his Royal palace in Ilara, Eredo LCDA, Epe, Oba Ogunsanwo lamented the recent surge of insecurity that has besieged different communities in Epe.

Recall that Epe division has witnessed series of cult-related shootings in recent memory, a development which has claimed the lives of an unconfirmed number of cultists.

There was also the kidnap of a Chief Lecturer at the Michael Otedola College of Primary Education (MOCPED), Dr TL Ibrahim, who was later released by his abductors at the payment of an undisclosed ransom.

“As a Royal father and paramount ruler, it has given me a lot of cause for concern. The recent kidnap that happened in Odo-Iragunshin, the cult activities that is becoming very rampant within our area here and the issue of Fulani herdsmen, all are issues that bother on security. On the other hand, there is also a need to beef up the security of the area in terms of engaging the Police and other security agencies.”

“The Government alone can not do it, whatever assistance we can render, we’re also doing it to ensure that they are well-equipped. We are also engaging the Government to make them realise that there is a need to provide more men and logistics for the Police and all the other security agencies to be able to combat this level of crime. We can create a win-win situation over these insecurity problem,”

Oba Alara further cleared the air on the viral video of herdsmen being chased out of Eredo LCDA by panicky residents on Friday 11th June, 2021. He debunked the narrative that the herders were forcibly evicted by youths of the community, noting that the herders were in transit as it is their practice to always “gravitate back towards their end” when the weather improves.

“Considering the issue of the herdsmen, nobody is asking the Fulanis to leave. On the incident that happened the other time, they were just in transit from Lagos, through Ikorodu to Poka, going towards Ijebu-Ode and I’m glad that the DPO rose to the occasion to ensure that it did not degenerate into something else, I really salute them because they’ve done very well. The story out there is that people from the Eredo-Epe axis are trying to chase Fulani from our place, no, they were just in transit but they mistook it for another thing and that’s what brought about the mix-up,” Alara stated.

While stating that the establishment of businesses and investments for the growth and development of Epe is to a large extent premised on the safety of lives and properties, Oba Ogunsanwo disclosed that the instances of insecurity is unfortunate, disturbing and condemnable in the strongest terms.

Noting that the recent spike in insecurity may not be unconnected to the economic difficulty that has engulfed Nigeria’s socio-economic space, His Royal Majesty opined that the provision of social programs to alleviate poverty would rescue the situation.

“On our part as Royal Fathers, we’ve been holding series of meetings to ensure that these do not happen and then to bring it to its bearest minimum. Every society has its security challenges which boils down to one thing; the level of poverty that is in our country today.”

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“We need to reach out to our people, we need to engage the youths, we need to look for alternative means of employment for them. We need to help them in vocational training whereby they can be trained in other aspects apart from schooling.”

“Many of them are graduates, many of them are drop-outs that can not continue to pay for their education. For us as Royal fathers, we have been arranging for programs that would actually address the alleviation of poverty. We believe once this is done, it would begin to have a positive effect on the community and would reduce the level of crime and all these security-related issues,” Alara said.