Wole Balogun, Ado Ekiti

Ekiti State deputy governor, Chief Bisi Egbeyemi, has appealed to the Nigerian military  authorities to return check points earlier mounted in some flash points in the state, stating that the development would guarantee security against incidents of armed robbery, kidnapping among others in the state.

Chief Egbeyemi noted that  a recent removal of military check-points along Iwaraja-Efon-Ita Ure-Aramoko , Ado-Ikere-Ise-Emure and  Ikere-Akure highways,  where cases of kidnappings, armed robbery among others had been high of recent, has raised security concerns at yuletide season.

He said the existence of soldiers on these highways had helped in warding off criminals and stemmed the tides of crimes in the state.

The deputy governor also assured that his principal and Governor of the state, Kayode Fayemi has robust 4-point cardinal programme with which Ekiti would be developed,  saying the policy would ensure that abandoned projects are completed on time.

READ ALSO: A US varsity wrestler told to cut dreadlocks or forfeit the match

Egbeyemi made the remarks while speaking with newsmen in Ado Ekiti during a courtesy visit  to the Nigeria Union of Journalists(NUJ), Correspondents’ Chapel, Ekiti chapter at the weekend.

His words : “Our government is passionate about security and we are ready to spend if spending money would make Ekiti safe and peaceful.

“Our government wants peace and very soon you will be seeing changesin the actions of our security personnel. They were not motivated before but now our government is taking steps to give them incentives to be able to work.

“We leant the security  check-points mounted at Ita Ure in Efon Alaayeand the one along Ise Ekiti had been dismantled.  We want to urgemilitary to redeploy soldiers to those areas because of the rampancy of kidnapping in our dear state.

“We realized that soldiers are the security  personnel that kidnappers fear most and they must be retained in Ekiti for the safety of our people”, he said.

Egbeyemi  expressed disillusionment  with the way those projects initiated by Fayemi in his first term but could not be completed were allegedly abandoned by his successor.

Related News

“Our focus is to develop Agriculture, industrial, education sectors and to also generate employment, but we won’t abandon any project.

Governor Fayemi started some projects like the Oba Adejugbe hospital, some roads under the 5km programme but were abandoned by the governor that came after him.

“The contractors handling the projects had been summoned and will be mobilized to site to complete them, including those Fayose initiated.

“In the area of education, government will  continue with its operation renovation programme, but this time , we will build more laboratories, buy books in libraries, so that our students can experience learning under conducive atmosphere.

“We want to appreciate our teachers for cooperating with us. When we were campaigning, they accused us that we are going to sack teachers, but today teachers were the first to benefit from N200 million government’s housing and vehicle loans .

“We have stopped illegal fees in our primary and secondary schools and teachers must comply. The government that gave the directive knew that it would give running grants to fund our schools effectively.

READ ALSO: Okorocha bombs Oshiomole: you failed as governor

“We are also planning to make farming a good occupation in Ekiti. We have good land we are going to make good use  of , to make Ekiti the food basket of the nation.

“All our moribund industries will be revitalized but we are not going to allow this affects payment of salaries and pensions. When you pay, the traders, landlords and artisans will be happy.

“I am currently heading a committee to look at the existing spaces in the civil service, so that we can fill them. We are going to employ through this. We are ready to cooperate with everybody , not minding your ethnicity, religious diversity or political belief”, he said.