The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State has again lamented the recent surge in the cases of kidnappings, murder, hoodlum attacks and other violent crimes in the state as against what the situation was in the other five states in the South West.
The party blamed the ugly development on Governor Seyi Makinde’s “penchant for lip service, unhealthy politicking and showmanship.”
In a statement issued on Friday and made available to newsmen in Ibadan by its Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, Oyo APC expressed regrets that Makinde who is constitutionally regarded as the Chief Security Officer of the state seemed not to appreciate the fact human life and freedom cannot be made a tool of politicking as he has been caught shifting the blame on the federal government while abdicating his own responsibility.
The statement noted, “We have said on several occasions that window dressing and populism cannot help in building and sustaining security architecture. The current administration started, on a bad note in 2019, with the disengagement of some critical stakeholders from the joint security activities in the state and up till the present moment, the traditional rulers and other relevant institutions are being left out while priority was on the purchase of pleasure cars, at exorbitant cost, for some security agencies.
“He paid almost N8 billion for the procurement of surveillance aircraft but nothing has been seen since July, 2025 while bandits and other criminal elements torment residents of the state.
“The same Makinde admiration equipped Mukaila Auxiliary and his army of political thugs with lethal weapons for the purpose of witch-hunting the opposition elements and residents but today, the whole world knows the results of this action. Gov. Makinde keyed into the idea of the Southwest Security Network but available reports indicate that able-bodied men recruited into the Oyo State Amotekun Corps were the worst treated by the government.
“No good salary, no welfare package, no insurance or retirement plans while most of them (Amotekun Corps) are deployed to the wrong places where they serve the interest of those in power and their friends only.
“Also annoying was the statement credited to Gov. Makinde on Thursday regarding the need for the establishment of State Police. It is on record that the Oyo State governor was among those people who frustrated the efforts when it was first conceived. Sixteen governors submitted a memorandum on proposed modalities for the creation of state police in March, 2024 at the request of the federal government but twenty delayed their submissions but it was only one governor (Makinde) who called the exercise a waste of time.
“Among those who did not submit their memorandum was Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and a few days after that, he was on Channels TV where he was quoted as saying; “I did not submit any memorandum to the state police. But my position is very clear about the state police. I see it, quite frankly, as a waste of our time.
“Regrettably, Gov. Makinde now wants to shift the blame to the Presidency even though he has never been denied the monthly payment of Security Votes which runs into billions of naira. Makinde should sit up and rescue all abductees immediately,” APC said.
In recent times, Oyo State has recorded some disturbing cases of kidnappings for ransom and notable among them were the abductions of scores of school children and their teachers in two remote communities in Oriire Local Government Area, as well as, that of the two staff of the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN) in Idi Ayunre, Oluyole Local Government Area.
