Traditional Rulers under the aegis of Lagos State Council of Obas and Chiefs on Tuesday commended the efforts of the State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode and the security agencies on the successful rescue of the Oniba of Iba, Oba Goriola Oseni.
The Oba of Lagos, HRM Rilwan Akiolu I, who led the traditional rulers to the Lagos House, Ikeja, said he and his colleagues were on a “thank you” visit to the Governor to commend him for the immense role he played towards the successful rescue of the Oniba of Iba.
He said the efforts of the security agencies, coupled with the valuable information provided by Nigerians came in handy in the investigation process.
“First of all we should thank God almighty for sparing our lives to enable us see today and bringing one of us back home, Oba Oniba who was kidnapped.
“We’ve come to say a big thank you to the Governor of Lagos State, the Commissioner of Police, DOC 81 Division, the SSS and all other security forces and the entire Lagos state and Nigerians in general for the valuable information given to the police, which led to the successful operation which brought our colleague back,” Akiolu said.
He however urged traditional rulers in the State to see the incident as a call for greater attention to be paid to security, noting that the business of protecting lives and property should not be left to the security agencies alone.
“But honestly as I told my brother Obas, all of us will have to go back and rearrange our security architecture. All hands must be on deck, everyone must assist the government. That’s why in my palace, people accuse me, but I told them that well, maybe because I was a policeman.
“It is very necessary. We are happy because the governor did very well and the commissioner of police. All the security agencies, even the navy, they did all that they could do but we still have to be at alert. Everybody must be prepared like the motto of the Boys Scout says; we are not going to take things for granted now.
Akiolu also warned vandals and kidnappers to steer clear from the State, saying that the security apparatus in the State has been fortified to wage war against every form of criminality anywhere in the State.
“It is in their interest to desist and look for other legal ventures to make ends meet. The mere fact that the economy appears not to be okay does not mean that you resort to criminality. They should stop, not just kidnapping, but any form of criminality, no religion accepts such. Everybody is at alert now, we are on their toes now and with the encouragement given by the Chief of Naval Staff, the NSA and the IGP they will be chased down to anywhere they are”, he said.
Responding, Governor Ambode said that the State Government after learning of the incident deployed its security intelligence to unravel the circumstances surrounding the kidnap of Oba Oseni.
“At the initial stage, when the Oba was kidnapped, it appeared as if government was not doing anything. That was actually not the case. It was not just a sacrilege in Yorubaland, but the traditional institution was indeed desecrated. So, we needed to dig into what really happened to reach a logical conclusion,” he said.
Governor Ambode while commending Oba Akiolu and other members of the traditional institution in the State for the support and concern during the period, assumed them that such incident would never occur in the State again.
“We will now pay greater attention collectively to the security of our traditional rulers. We need to increase security especially for those rulers in the riverine areas. Whatever it is that the Council of Obas must do, must be done to strengthen the security in that area, but there must be cohesion and unity amongst us.
“Anything that will bring about peace and make the State progress is our priority and the security of lives and property has always been the priority of this government,” the Governor said.