Hon. Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, a Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu and the heads of security agencies in the country to go after those financing insecurity in the country.
Oyintiloye, a member of the defunct APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) made this appeal while speaking with newsmen on Sunday in Osogbo.
He said that the recent attacks on Benue and Plateau states, where many innocent people were slaughtered, were pathetic and unacceptable.
Oyintiloye, a former lawmaker, said that as long as the bandits still had access to food and ammunition, it would be difficult to crush them.
He, however, said that once the sources of supply of the basic human needs and weapons are cut off by arresting those supplying the criminals, security agencies would be able to curtail the activities of the insurgents.
Oyintiloye, who noted that criminals could not operate without support from certain quarters, challenged security agencies to work harder to identify the suppliers of weapons and operational vehicles, hard drugs, among others, to the bandits.
” The point is that to effectively combat insecurity in the country, it is important to target the individuals and entities that are bankrolling criminal activities and insurgencies.
” This, however, requires a multifaceted approach for high-level, including strengthening intelligence gathering and analysis, implementing robust anti-corruption measures, and fostering international cooperation to disrupt financial flows.
“And this is the area the security agencies need to beam their search lights.
“There is no doubt that the security agencies are doing their best and the result of their efforts is glaring for all to see, but more needs to be done in exposing the sponsors of this evil act”, he said.
Oyintiloye, who declared that incessant killings of innocent Nigerians should not be allowed to go on, unchallenged, said that those using the insecurity to score political points against the President should be treated as enemies of the country.
The APC chieftain, who commended the President on his efforts to tackle insecurity l in the last two years, urged him to allow for public prosecution of the financiers of the bandits.
The former lawmaker urged the government to address our institutional framework, which has become very weak over time and has affected governance negatively, “our democratic values, and accountability.
“This resulted in high rates of unemployment, poverty, illiteracy, and lack of effective policing and weak criminal justice systems.”
According to him, “Arresting financiers of insurgency without addressing the issues of criminal justice by prosecuting them publicly might not yield the needed results.”
He however, expressed optimism that Nigeria will overcome its current security challenges.
