Commander 9 Brigade demands traditional leaders’ support

Etim Effiong

The Ayangburen of Ikorodu, Oba Kabiru Shotobi, has urged the Nigerian Army to partner with community leaders on intelligence gathering to arrest insecurity in the country.

Shotobi said this during the visit of the Commander, 9 Brigade, Brig-Gen Sale Kawugana, to his palace in Ikorodu, Lagos State.

According to the traditional ruler, the Nigerian military has played a significant role in curtailing crime in his community, especially those involving pipeline vandalism around the coastal areas.

He said: “You have come to exchange ideas and views on ways to tackle insecurity and we are ready to partner with you because security job is for everybody.

“There has been a robust relationship between the army and our community for long; in view of this, we pledge our support for the military.

“The military has done a lot of significant job by honouring most distress calls when issues of killings by cult groups were on the rampage.

“We call on the army for assistance to curtail the menace of cultism, pipeline vandalism and other criminal acts that cause unrest in our community.”

He asked the commander to help in curtailing the excesses of land grabbers aiding and abetting cult activities that have been causing unrest in Ikorodu community.

The royal father said the land grabbers usually recruit cult members to carry out their nefarious operations.

The commander, in his response, said that the purpose of the visit was to pay homage to traditional rulers.

He thanked the traditional rulers for what they had done and to solicit for their support as enjoyed by his predecessor.

“My predecessor has spoken so much about the support he enjoyed from the Ayangburen and the peace loving people of Ikorodu,” he said.

The commander said security is everybody’s business, and the concept and definition of security approach has been modified over time.

He said that the approach was all encompassing with stakeholders, security vigilance groups, community policing groups, and above all, the traditional institutions.

“What makes the traditional institutions so important is because historically, it has been the pivot upon which all other security networks revolved,” he said.

He also urged the community Vigilante Group (VGN) to coordinate and unite the youths in maintaining peace and promised to work closely with them and others to ensure that crime is reduced.