Adebayo Adenrele
…as group bans festivals over insecurity
The Ebira people living in Ondo State have enjoined the state Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu to enlist their indigenes in the state security network agency to assist in the fight against bandits.
The Ebira, who are decendants of Kogi state also urged the Governor to establish Amotekun posts in various communities where the Ebira people reside across the state.
The group stated this after they announced the ban of all traditional festivals in their communities in the state, as part of the efforts to curb criminal activities in their vicinity.
Speaking in Akure, the state capital, one of the leaders of the Ebira communities, Abiodun Umoru, said his people are ready to join hands with the security agencies to fight insecurity in the state.
Umoru, who expressed discomfort over the mention of one Idris Ojo, who was an escapee from Kuje prison as one of those arrested for carrying out the massacre in Owo on June 5, 2022, a month after, said some steps had been taken to ensure that criminals were flushed out of Ebira community.
According to him, one of such steps was banning traditional festivals in Ebira communities in the state; saying anybody who wanted to hide under traditional festivals to perpetrate evil in the state would be handed over to the security agents.
In his words, “We can no longer fold our arms while some of our kinsmen will be acting against our cherished cultural norms and values.”
“We have warned and educated our women who sell food items at strategic locations on the major roads of the dangers of hobnobbing with suspected criminals by volunteering information to them.”
“We use this medium to appreciate the present administration for its tireless efforts at reducing the rate of criminality across the state. We pledge not to relent in our commitment to continue to contribute our quota to the socio-economic and political development of the sunshine state.”
