Fall-out of South West Govs Security summit: police arrest kidnappers on Ibadan-Ikire expressway

Few hours after the meeting of the South West governors in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Tuesday, where far-reaching decisions on security were taken on how to stop Fulani herders rampaging Yorubaland, the police arrested some dare-devil kidnappers operating around Ikire and other communities along the Ibadan-Ife expressway.

The Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 11, Mr Leye Oyebade, disclosed this on the sideline of the South West security summit in Ibadan.

Zone 11 comprises Oyo, Osun and Ondo States.

Oyebade made the revelation while explaining that security agencies were not overwhelmed by the security challenges in the region.

He added that those who kidnapped Prof. Adegbehingbe of the Obafemi Awolowo University have also been arrested.

He said police decided against publicizing their successes on those arrests for security reasons.

He was responding to claims by the governors that police were overwhelmed by the level of insecurity in the country.

The Ikire segment of the Ibadan-Ife expressway has become notorious for kidnapping in the last few months thereby instilling fear in motorists and commuters.

The kidnap of Prof. Adegbehingbe also reinforced the fear thereby causing outrage over the level of insecurity in Southwest.

The outrage was partly responsible for the security summit.

While commending the governors for supporting police operations in their various states, Oyebade insisted that more support, especially in the area of vehicles and technology, will further enhance the ability of the force to offer a more effective policing.