As a result of her multi-border nature, Ogun State is prone to security challenge. What have you done to address the problem ? Only two states are investing in security more than Ogun State in Nigeria today. These are Lagos and Rivers States. We met 19 rickety Hilux vans provided for the use of the police when we came in 2011. Today, we have over 300 brand new Hilux vans equipped with communication facilities. We have 13 Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) in place today. No state in Nigeria has the type of APC we have. It is a 2011 technology, the very latest technology from the USA. Some people wrote a petition to EFCC saying that we have approval for eight APCs and ended up buying 13. They said we had the intention of stealing that was why approved only eight at the State Executive Council in the first instance. I said this is ridiculous. It is when I collected money for 13 and bought eight that I think I have committed an offence. A local supplier brought eight APCs for us and I took the entire Executive Council to inspect them. Then, one police officer called our attention to the failings of the APC’s that were brought to us. We quickly sent them back to the suppliers and proceeded to import our own APCs from the USA. We were advised that if we were buying 10, the manufacturers will reduce the the price and so instead of the eight that we approved, the money was enough to buy 10. And due to the exigencies of the time when banks could not open in the whole of Ogun East Senatorial District, we had to fly the APCs into the country. Even at that, we were able to bring them into the country at a very low cost. We were initially about to charter a plane to fly seven of them simultaneously into the country immediately but someone advised me that it will be cheaper to bring them into the country in piecemeal. That advice again saved money for us to be able to buy more APCs. Happily, when I was asking for waiver from the President, I asked for 13 not eight. The cost of our own APCs compared to the one anyone has is far cheaper. I am not a thief. I have my family name to protect. We have 56 Divisional Police Officers. We fund the operations of those Hilux vehicles and those APCs. We give allowances to policemen and soldiers in our security outfits. When we came, banks were all closed but due to the measures we put in place, all banks are today working in Ogun State. Some people try to sabotage the APCs but we always get around it. They planned to mess us up but God is in control. My own goal is to provide security for the people of Ogun State. Before we came, nightlife was almost zero, now people can move around even at night and nightlife is back in the state. Properties of our people are now well secured. We have not got there yet but we are on the correct route and we are not stopping. - Senator Ibikunle Amosun fca, Executive Governor of Ogun State
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 11:40:57 +0000
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