Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State says governors in the South-West are collaborating to secure the region amid the rising spate of crime across the country.

The governor spoke on Tuesday after the High Court in Abuja convicted four persons over the 2022 attack on St Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State.

“What I am saying in essence is that we are talking to ourselves; we are working,” Aiyedatiwa said on Channels Television’s Politics Today when asked about the preparedness of governors in the region to address insecurity.

“The other day we had a meeting in Oyo State, in Ibadan, where we tried to map out what we need to do together to secure the South-West geopolitical zone, especially with our security network, Amotekun. Don’t forget we have it in Ondo State, Oyo State, Ekiti State, and Ogun State. It is only in Lagos State that they don’t have it, but they have their own security.”

The comment came following a spike in insecurity in some South-West states, especially with the abduction of students and teachers in Oyo and the kidnapping incident in the Ilejemeje Local Government Area of Ekiti State.

These developments have raised concerns over the safety of residents and properties in the region.

However, Aiyedatiwa said Ondo State, like other states in the South-West, is taking proactive measures to address the challenge.

“Now, for us in Ondo State and other South-West states, we stand as a gateway to the South-West because we border a lot of other states from other parts of the country—Kogi, North Central, Kwara (we are not bordered by Kwara directly, but Ekiti is close to us), and then Osun, Ogun and so on,” he said on the current affairs show.

“A lot of engagements are going on in our forest reserves that do not come to the public in the news.

“So much work is being done. Security is one responsibility that leaders carry that is not so visible to everybody. It is only when there is a lapse that it will look as if the government has not been doing enough. We have been doing so much,” the governor said.

A ‘Victory For Rule of Law’

In the 2022 Owo attack, over 40 people were killed and many others injured after the gunmen opened fire on worshippers.

Four years after the incident, ‎Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court on Wednesday sentenced four suspects in the attack to death by hanging.

‎The convicts were among the five accused persons who had been standing trial on a nine-count terrorism charge filed by the Department of State Services (DSS) in connection with the attack at the church.

Reacting to the verdict, Governor Aiyedatiwa said the people of Owo and Ondo in general are excited by the judgment.

“For us in Ondo State, we are happy that this judgment is a victory for the rule of law and for all the victims attacked, not just in Owo, Ondo State, but all who have been attacked at one time or the other by these terrorists,” the former deputy governor said. (Channels)

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