No fewer than 45 illegal immigrants from Benin Republic, Chad, Sudan and other African countries have been arrested by the police to curb social vices in Ogun Community.

Secretary of the Conflict Resolution Committee and Other Related Matters, Hadi Sani, who disclosed this in an exclusive interview on Monday in Abeokuta, said the committee facilitated the arrest in Sabo Community to curb anti-social behaviour in the area.

He said that the 45 illegal immigrants were nabbed in Sabo Community following the alarm raised by Hausa residents over strange faces and behaviours of the immigrants, which were alien to the people of the community.

Sani, who doubles as Senior Special Assistant to the Ogun State Governor on Inter-Ethnic Affairs, said that, upon receiving the information, the committee contacted the police; the immigrants were arrested and handed over to the state immigration office for further investigation.

Sani said, “Of recent, we made some arrests of some foreign nationals from Chad, Cameroon, and Sudan because some of these countries, like Sudan, are in war. We have arrested over 45 illegal immigrants who reside in Sabo area.”

“We can do that because the people of the area raised the alarm because when they saw strange people, they handed them to security officers who handed them to the immigration. Some are illegal immigrants, some are legal, some are war challenge displaced fellows. You cannot vouch for anyone,” he added.

He also dismissed the notion that the Dapo Abiodun-led administration set up the committee to address only farmers-herders clashes, insisting that the committee’s other objectives are to combat social vices in communities across the state.

Sani noted that the committee, since its establishment, had been able to resolve farmers-herders clashes and prevent them from escalating through the effective support and cooperation from its stakeholders, including the Head of Villages and Fulani leaders in the state.

He opined that improved dialogue and peaceful communication were needed to mitigate the effects of the farmer-herder conflict, while calling for a cordial relationship between the two groups, given their contributions to agriculture and livestock production, to boost food security in the state.

Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State on Friday approved the appointment of Mrs. Omolara Adebukola Adebayo as the new Statistician-General of the state.

This was a move aimed at further strengthening the operations of the Ogun State Bureau of Statistics and enhancing the quality of the Civil/Public Service.

The appointment was contained in a statement issued by the State Head of Service, Mr. Kehinde Onasanya, who said the decision was in line with the provisions of Section 12 (1) of the Ogun State Statistical Law, 2012.

According to the statement, Mrs. Adebayo was selected from the pool of successful Directors under the Ogun State Pipeline Leadership Development Programme, a scheme designed to groom and supply competent officers for top-level appointments in the Civil/Public Service. (The Guardian)

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