By Jamiu Ganiyu
The Speaker of Osun State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Timothy Owoeye has asserted that despite the few cases of kidnapping and banditry experienced in Osun recently, the state still has one of the lowest crime rate in the country.
The Speaker of the State parliament gave this remarks yesterday while delivering his goodwill message at Osun State Police Community Relations Committee Annual Lecture, titled ” Kidnapping and Banditry: Understanding the Twin Menace”, held at Aurora Conference and Event Centre, beside NNPC Mega Station, ring-road, Osogbo.
Rt. Hon. Timothy Owoeye who lauded the proactiveness of the Governor Gboyega Oyetola in addressing the twin menace in the state, stated that the state parliament under his watch has also initiated a bill titled “The State of Osun Kidnapping (Prohibition Bill), 2019, to tackle kidnapping in the state, which seeks to recommend life imprisonment for perpetrators of the dastardly act.
He, however, acknowledged that the Nigeria Police Force is overwhelmed with the task of protecting the internal territories of the country, hence, the need for the people to come together and fashion out ways to protect themselves through community policing.
In his words,” while it is evident that our police force tasked with internally protect the citizenry is overwhelmed, there is a need for us as people to come together and fashion out a way to protect ourselves”. “World over, community policing has been adjudged as the best and most effective form of policing”, he concluded
Rt. Hon. Owoeye called on all security agencies to be faithful and diligent in their prosecution of kidnapping and banditry related cases, just as he asked media and most importantly social media users to verify every negative report they receive before sharing it to a larger audience.
He also said social media could be a vital tool for the nation’s building if put into right usage and could be a nation’s albatross if used wrongly in disseminating fake news.
The highpoint of the event was the decoration of, Rt. Hon. Timothy Owoeye as the Grand Patron of Osun PCRC to appreciate his support for the committee over the years.