Some prominent sons and daughters of Akokoland have called for more military check points to be put in place in all the routes around Akokoland, Ondo state.
Scare of Boko Haram militants in Ondo: residents cry out for more military presence.
This comes as a result of fears by the residents who believe there are activities of suspected members of Boko Haram in the area.
At a one-day interactive session with the representatives of security agencies, the prominent indegines of the area noted that Akoko, which comprises of 40 communities, serves as channel for travelers coming from the northern part to the South West states. In their opinion, it makes the communities vulnerable to Boko Haram invasion.
The interactive session was attended by the caretaker chairmen of the four local government areas, traditional rulers, religious leaders, and a member of the of the House of Representatives, representing Akoko South West/East federal constituency, Honorable Babatunde Kolawole.
The security operatives’ representatives included officers of the army, police, the DSS, the FRSC and the NSCDC, led to the meeting by Lt. Colonel. Wo Ubi.
The residents raised the alarm over the rising level of insecurity in their communities, stating that they were sensing the activities of Boko Haram members in their midst. They complained on ‘some strange faces’ in their midst, urging the military chiefs to avail them more check-points.
Kolawole, the lower chamber lawmaker, commended the people for being proactive, saying President Muhammadu Buhari was already taking some positive steps to eradicate the activities of the Boko Haram sect.
The legislator, who was a member of the ad hoc committee on the screening of service chiefs, said the security operatives needed to work with the residents in order to finger those strangers.
He said: “This meeting is timely. I was the co-sponsor of the first motion presented by Mr. Speaker, Yakubu Dogora, on rehabilitation and development of the North East and very soon, I believe we will win the war over Boko Haram.
“We have given our support to the bill because if we say, we are from the South West and become careless about what is happening in the North East, by the time, they are done with the North East, they will invade us here. Thank God the security agencies are sensing their activities here in Akoko and that is why we need to sit down and talk.”
In response to the complaints and plea of the Akoko people, Lt. Colonel Ubi said for security operatives to tackle the insecurity issues, they will need the support of the residents to provide any and every useful information.
Stating specifically that information from drivers and commercial motorcycle riders would be of utmost importance.
He, particularly, commended a driver who quickly alerted the military about the activities of his passengers at Oke-Agbe Akoko.
Ubi said: “If not the drivers, we won’t know that the passengers are Boko Haram members and they are Chadians. We arrested them and took them to our command where necessary information were gathered from them.”
He promised to inform his superiors about the demands of the people, particularly on the more military checkpoints.
Meanwhile, the Boko Haram insurgents raided a village in Borno state near the border with Niger, killing seven people, on Monday, August 17. Dozens of gunmen stormed Awonori, a farming and herding village near Damasak, looted food supplies and carted away livestock.
Muhammadu Modu Wan-Wan, the head of the Damasak fishermen’s union, said:
“They killed seven people, looted grains and took away all the livestocks in the village before fleeing into the bush.
“The gunmen who came in vans and on motorcycles around 7:00 am besieged the village and opened fire on residents as they were having breakfast before moving to their farms.”
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