Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has appealed to the Nigeria Police Command to reduce the number of road blocks mounted on highways by the police officers in order not to discourage Investors willing to do business in the state.
The Governor made the appeal while hosting the newly deployed Assistant Inspector General of Police AIG Zone Eleven, Paul Odama who paid him a courtesy visit in his office.
Addressing his visitors, the state governor Engineer Seyi Makinde, commended the Oyo State Police Command and the synergy among various security agencies in the state, which he said resulted in the state being one of the most peaceful states in Nigeria.
“I want to use this opportunity to welcome you to Oyo State and congratulate you for taking over the Zonal Command for us here.
“Like your rightly pointed out, Oyo State, in terms of policing, is quite big and the bugged in the entire south-west zone. Security is a huge challenge here. If you are going from here to Kishi, you will probably spend maybe 5 hours on the road, and we share international border with Republic of Benin.
“Please, I want to appeal on the issue of putting barricade on the road in the afternoon. If it is in the night, we can understand that it is a little bit dark.
“So, I want you to please look into that and let us see what we can do together to encourage the officers and men that are on patrol. If we can achieve the same thing we have achieved in Oyo State without roadblocks and unnecessary issue of agitation, I will be very much pleased,” He said.
While pledging that the state government would extend its support to the zone Eleven Police Command, governor Makinde noted that due to population, land mass, and land dimension, policing could be a huge task in the state, as he maintained that the state government would never relent in giving adequate support to the police to perform their constitutional duties.
The Governor who noted that the Nation’s democracy has come to stay, commended the role played by the Nigeria Police in sustaining the democracy.
Earlier in his remarks, the Assistant Inspector General of Police, AIG Zone 11, Mr Paul Odama, used the medium to appreciate various unprecedented supports the Oyo State Police Command had enjoyed under the administration of Governor Seyi Makinde, which included regular donation of Security vehicles to the Oyo Police.
The Governor later led the AIG on inspection of Vehicles bought to beef up the state security network within the premises of the state Secretariat Agodi Ibadan.
The event was attended by top government functionaries and the state appointees on security matters.
