LAGOS – The Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of the Southwest zone, DIG Adegoke Fayoade, yesterday assured that all security agencies are working to secure the release of schoolchildren and their teachers abducted in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State last month.
He said their freedom was imminent.
Fayoade, who doubles as the DIG in charge of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), gave the assurance during a visit to the Lagos State Police Command as part of his operational tour of the Southwest zone ordered by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Olatunji Disu.
“All agencies, including government, are working very hard, and I can assure you that within the shortest possible time, the children and their teachers will be free,” he said.
This assurance is coming amid protests from Ibadan residents who blocked Iwo Road yesterday morning demanding the immediate rescue of the 39 pupils and six teachers.
The protesters in their hundreds, brought traffic and commercial activities on a section of the road to a halt for several hours as they displayed placards such as “Government Must Act -End Kidnapping in Oyo State”; “Free the Ogbomoso Kidnapped Victims”; “Oyo Is Bleeding”, and “End Insecurity Now”.
They listed their demands as safer roads and communities, protection for farmers, traders, students and families, and the restoration of peace, security and justice across the state.
During the demonstration, Muslim participants observed the afternoon prayers on the road, seeking divine intervention for the safe return of the abductees and an end to kidnapping, other criminal activities in Oyo State.
Speakers at the protest expressed concern over what they described as escalating cases of kidnapping in parts of the state, warning that residents now lived in fear due to criminal activities.
He said observations and feedbacks from the tour would be taken back to the IGP for deliberation by the Force Management Team, noting that manpower improvement, welfare and logistics were top priority for the Disu’s led police.
“The mission of the IG is to motivate the men to perform optimally, and welfare is paramount,” he said.
Fayoade while addressing officers of the command, ordered a tougher offensive against armed robbery, cultism and other violent crimes.
In his welcome address, Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Tijani Fatai, said the command lost seven officers, arrested 204 suspects and recovered 60 firearms and 625 rounds of ammunition in a sustained crackdown on criminal activities across the state over three months.
The suspects arrested included 71 for armed robbery, 133 cultists and 35 for murder, while four suspected traffic robbers were charged to court.
