The Executive Secretary/CEO, National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA), Engr. Cornelius Adebayo, has strongly condemned the killing of Baale Ogba Ayo, Oke-Ode and members of vigilante group by bandits, describing it as “bestiality taken too far.”
In a press statement by his Media Office on Monday, Engr. Adebayo noted that the spectre of banditry and killings of innocent people that have ravaged major parts of Kwara South and Kwara North, is the worst display of man’s inhumanity, which requires speedy and concerted actions from all stakeholders.
The NALDA boss said, “The killing of Baale Ogba Ayo, and vigilante members in Oke-Ode is the display of bestiality not only taken too far, but in its crudest form, and must be condemned in the strongest terms by all well-meaning Kwarans and Nigerians.
“In the last few months, our people in Kwara South and Kwara North have been murdered in cold blood. These are innocent people, who are our fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters being killed in their homes and in their places of livelihood, with the latest victims being Baale of Ogba Ayo, and vigilantes, who volunteered to protect their community against sadistic marauders. We must not let their death be in vain.”
While appealing to the people of Oke-Ode to remain calm and law abiding, Engr. Adebayo called on both the Federal and Kwara State Government to, without further delay, deploy every available security apparatus to the affected communities in order to reassure the people that they have not been forsaken by the authorities.
He commended the directive by the military top hierarchy asking the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Second Mechanised Division of the Nigerian Army to immediately relocate to Oke-Ode to restore normalcy and engender confidence-building as the right step in the right direction.
Engr. Adebayo also called on all major stakeholders in Kwara State to continue to cooperate with the government with a view to finding lasting solutions to the spate of insecurity that have bedeviled the once peace-loving areas.
He commiserated with the families of the Baale, the vigilantes and other victims, adding that no efforts must be spared by the government to apprehend and punish the perpetrators of the dastardly acts.
