From Ralph Omololu Agbana, Lokoja
Lagos based Management Consultancy guru and Asiwaju of Odo-Eri Land, Kogi State, Chief Funsho Davies Owoyemi has described the presence of the military Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Egbe, Kogi State, as timely and indeed a giant step towards boosting the local security architecture and efforts of security agencies in combating banditry, kidnapping and other forms of criminalities in the area.
He expressed optimism that the base would assist in mitigating the challenges posed by the influx of criminally minded people, especially the bandits who currently constitute a torn in the flesh of the people of Okunland and their neighbours.
The newly constructed and furnished Military Forward Operating Base located on the outskirts of Egbe, Yagba West Local Council, Kogi State comprising a 94-bed Twin Hostels, office and residence of the Commander of the Base, officers mess, two brand new Hilux Vans and other utilities, was built by the Senator representing Kogi West Senatorial Zone, Senator Sunday Karimi, to assist security agencies in combating banditry and kidnapping and other vices, particularly in the forests around the Kwara-Kogi-Ekiti-Niger States borders. The facility was officially handed over to the Nigerian Army last weekend during the occasion of Egbe Unity Day.
Otunba Funsho Owoyemi, a respected elder in Okunland, spearheaded the defunct Okun New Initiative (ONI). In the mid-1990s, ONI was a convergence of prominent and influential Okun sons and daughters from all callings with the sole aim of attracting development to the politically marginalized Okun area, through the deployment of individual resources and collective connections, within government
and the private sector.
Speaking with journalists from his Lagos base on Friday, he commended Senator Karimi for the “wonderful initiative”, noting that, the establishment of the FOB “will serve to bring safety relief for our people and neighbours in Kwara, Kogi and Ekiti States; most especially travellers and farmers”.
He urged the Nigerian Army to promptly and effectively utilize the facility by immediate take-over of the facility and the deployment of personnel and equipment.
This, he stressed, would allow the soldiers take firm control of the security of the area. He also called for collaborative efforts and synergy between the governments of the three states, security agencies, traditional rulers and citizens for effective multiplier benefits of the FOB, saying “Security is our collective responsibility. It is everybody’s business”.
Asiwaju Owoyemi conveyed the collective delight of the Okun country to the development and praised Senator Sunday Karimi’s “laudable and exemplary effort”. He described the FOB as “heartening,” going by
the several years experience of cries about how bandits, kidnappers and Fulani herdsmen have made life unbearable for residents, farmers and travellers in the area.
The situation has badly impacted the agrarian economy of the people, escalating food security crisis. State and local government employees who work as teachers, agriculturists, among others vocations, have had to bank outside their domains, with attendant risks and inconveniences, due to the sack of existing banks by deadly armed robbers who have repeatedly attacked banks forcing them to almost
a permanent closure of the “shops”.
