Date Published: 07/22/10

Robberies: ODSG blasts PDP, says you brought us to this sorry pass

Ondo State Government on Thursday reacted to what it termed spurious allegations by the State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that it was incapable of tackling armed robberies in the State saying that the genesis of the current upsurge in crime in the State was traceable to the PDP during their rule in the State.

A release issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Ondo State, Mr. Kolawole Olabisi noted that such allegation was unfortunate, uncharitable and reeks of double speak. According to him,“It is quite unfortunate that the Ondo State Chapter of the PDP has continued to behave as the shameless people they are given their kindergarten antics in trying to rake up mucks where there are none.“They think that the people of the State have forgotten that it was the PDP government under Dr Olusegun Agagu that was responsible for the influx and proliferation of in arms and ammunitions in Ondo State when they imported them in truck loads the State in their inordinate desire to steal the peoples’ Mandate in the build up to the vexed 2007 election in the State.

“Or has Agagu and his ilk forgotten how in 2008, when his thugs turned the heat on him by the spate of the violence they unleashed on even his officials and the hapless people of the State, he pleaded with his army of thugs to return the arms given out to them for the election after he has “won” the election? The people of the State could still recollect vividly when Agagu had to practically gone on his knees begging and assuring these thugs of amnesty if they could surrender such arms in the Palaces of traditional rulers where they reside. All these are all in the public domain and are well documented by the people but it is now convenient for him and his foot soldiers to blame others for his misdeed because they want to come back to power at all cost now that the era of electoral violence in Ondo State is gone for ever.

“So, for a people who brought in guns and which they failed to retrieve even when we were strident in our calls for Agagu to round up his boys and retrieve the guns he bought for them to now turn around to blame a government that is up and doing cleaning up the mess he brought the State into reeks of double standard and is at best uncharitable.

“In any case, may we ask what he did to curb robberies that were prevalent during his inglorious rule in Ondo State? How many Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) did he procure for the men of the State Police Command, how many Patrol vans and protective equipment did he buy even when he was literarily swimming in billion of Naira oil revenue unlike now when the nation is broke?

“In the last four months, the State Government under Dr Olusegun Mimiko has procured a lot of crime fighting equipment, including five (5) APCs, 500 Bullet Proof vests, Patrol Vehicles, and established a motorised Joint Task Force to checkmate the menace of armed robberies among others.

“Pray, is the upsurge of crime an Ondo state affair alone or a national malaise that the Federal Government is doing all in its power to curb? We in Ondo State have vowed to make Ondo State hot for robbers and the process in on and soon, cases of robberies would be a thing of the past; Ondo State will no longer be a safe haven for hoodlums; but those who helped bring us to this sorry pass should keep quiet and allow us to clean up the mess they brought unto us due to
their inordinate ambition to take what did not belong to them.”

KOLAWOLE OLABISI