The Government of the State of Osun, Wednesday, cried out, alleging that youths from Zamfara State were sneaking into the state, using the Ondo axis, hiding inside trucks that bring foodstuff into the state
The Government said the youths were initially trickling into the state in twos and threes. Now, they come in tens perching on produce in trucks.
These were revealed by the Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, Prince Adeyanju Abdullah Binuyo, who also assured his compatriots, the Osun people, not to fret as the government was on top of the situation.
The Deputy Chief of Staff further disclosed that the government had ordered the Amotekun Corps to police all entry points to the state to monitor all trucks bring foodstuffs and goods to the state and also escort them out once they finish offloading.
“Government is aware of a huge influx of non-Osun residents into the state, especially from Zamfara,” Binuyo told The Nation newspaper in an interview. “They were coming majorly through the Ondo axis, accompanying trucks that are carrying food materials purportedly to be sold around the Southwest.
“The intelligence that we’ve gathered in the last few days is such that they usually have two or a maximum of two or three people attached to a truck to assist in discharging the goods. But now, we have sometimes 10 of them hidden among the goods.”
He said at times, the truck drivers may drop them off at some point along the Ilesa-Ife Expressway where fellow northerners who live in the area often wait to collect them.
“The government has been receiving a lot of such reports most especially now that Amotekun has been properly set up. This portends a great danger especially at a time like this when Osun is doing everything to avoid the community transmission of COVID-19. This is not the time to be reckless and allow safety or security breaches at our borders.
“The newly inaugurated Amotekun with the support of the police and the army have been mandated to identify and man all the entry points, carry out proper checks on the trucks coming in the name of carrying food or relief materials and make sure that anyone found hiding in these trucks are immediately returned to their states.”
