Concerned by the need to address the spate of violent clashes involving secondary schools students in the State, Ogun State House of Assembly, has called on the State Commissioner for Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to as a matter of urgency interface with other stakeholders including security agencies and the Parents- Teachers Associations towards curbing the menace.
The Speaker, Rt. Hon. Olakunle Oluomo, made the call while responding to the submission of a member representing Abeokuta North State Constituency, Hon. Modupe Mujota and her Odeda counterpart, Hon. Oludaisi Elemide, under Personal Explanation at the Assembly Complex, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.
Condemning the clashes which often disrupted economic activities of residents in the affected areas, Oluomo challenged the Commissioner to brainstorm with leadership of the Parents Teachers Association (PTA), security agencies and community leaders with a view to taking drastic steps to forestall the reoccurrence of such act; advising parents to improve on the monitoring of their wards to have a first hand information on their activities while outside the home.
The Speaker equally tasked the State Government on the issue of insecurity at Olokemeji-Olowo area, a border community between Ogun and Oyo States through a more coordinated joint security operation to dislodge bandits from the forest reserve in the area.
He further noted that security challenge bedevilling the nation, especially the South West, remained a collective effort of all residents, including the local security outfits in collaboration with government and other security agencies, lamenting that some unscrupulous elements were taking advantage of the bandits’ invasion to unleash terror on the people.
Earlier, Mujota had reported the fracas that broke out in Saje area of her constituency, where some students were alleged to have used dangerous weapons in a rivalry clash among students in the area, a situation that had been generating fears among the residents.
On his part, Hon. Elemide intimated the Assembly on the unlawful invasion of Olokemeji- Olowo, a boundary village between Ogun and Oyo State by some herdsmen, who allegedly killed a resident, while raising an alarm on their presence near a forest reserve.
In another development, Speaker Oluomo in his response to the member representing Yewa North II State Constituency, Wahab Haruna, challenged the State Attorney General to explore all necessary legal mechanisms including international treaties and protocol of the ECOWAS Court to secure the immediate release of a resident of Igbokofi, a border town in the State with Republic of Benin, Dr Kunle Garb, who was unlawfully arrested on a boundary-related dispute between Nigeria and Republic of Benin and was already arraigned before a Beninoire court the previous day.
