By Gbenga Sodeinde in Ado Ekiti
No fewer than 800 of our officers and men has been deployed across Ekiti state to ensure safety of lives and properties in the state as the Organisers of the October 1 protests against economic hardship in Nigeria have insisted on going ahead with the action on Tuesday, October 1.
The commandant, Ekiti State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Mr Paul Sosina who disclosed this in a chat with Heritage News in Ado also warned criminals and those with criminal tendencies to steer clear of the state.
Specifically, Sosina who said his work and mandate is to protect lives and property of the people as well as making the state safer added that he has deployed the NSCDC officers and men across the state, especially to all the flashpoints in the state capital and other parts.
According to him,”No fewer than 800 of our officers and men deployed would be seen manning strategic locations and areas in all parts of the state.Apart from maintaining law and order, they are stationed to protect the critical national assets and infrastructure located in the state.
Additionally, we also have on standby officers, for reinforcement and patrol duties”.
“They were also from our divisional offices to towns and villages, so our men are on top of the whole situation.
He said, messages have been sent to those planning to stage the protest on the need to follow due process in carrying out the demonstration.
“They should apply so that we can provide adequate security for them for the protest not to go out of hand and hijacked by hoodlums to cause mayhem.They should approach the authority, tell us the name and the people sponsoring an anchoring the protest.
“I don’t think they will have any problem if they apply to us. But if they didn’t apply to us and they move into the streets for the protest , we are going to apply professionalism to our job and make sure everyone and property well secured.
Sosina who disclosed that other new strategies are being employed by the command to reinforce security architecture of state said,
“I had a discussion with the Special Adviser to the governor on security on how to intervene with the mobile security vehicle. There is the need to also expand the security in terms of forest combing from time to time .
“The measure adopted in the past are impressive , warning people not to be moving around from 10 pm. But this must be fully enforced from October 1. Anyone whose vehicle document is not intact, is not expected to driving around that time , especially those using vehicles with tinted glass without permit, our men will be on ground to stop them and ensure to remove it from their car. And if it factory fitted , they should go to the police headquarters to and apply for tint permit. Most these crimes are being perpetrated by those people driving tinted vehicles. We are also trying to introduce drone to support our forest combing operations.
“Though I am new in the state and I inherit a lot of things on my assumption of office, the command has mapped out various mechanism curb insecurity in the state. It is a known fact, that issue of kidnapping is on high side in Ekiti in recent time is on the high side which is giving us a sleepless night.
“If you know you don’t have business in the state, it is better you move out . I have zero tolerance crimes. With my experience, I want to flush out those with illegal operations and acts out of Ekiti state and I want the state to be safe for all residents.We do embark patrol operations on daily basis at night to ensure the protection of lives and property of the people”.He added.