The House of Representatives has asked the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba Alkali, to put formidable security apparatus and strategies in place to end the incessant bank robberies in Osun State, especially around the Odo-Otin/lfelodun/Boripe Federal Constituency.
The House also urged the Police Boss and other relevant authorities to relocate the 39th MOPOL Unit to Ikirun, Ifelodun Local Government Area Headquarters, where the unit was to be located to curtail the escalating crime rate in the area.
These resolutions were a sequel to the adoption of a motion sponsored by Rasheed Afolabi, a member representing Odo-Otin/lfelodun/Boripe Federal Constituency at the plenary Thursday.
Moving the motion, Afolabi who decried the repeated attacks on banks in the area, insisted that the primary responsibility of the government to citizens is the protection of the right of life and property as guaranteed by Section 33(1) of the 1999 Constitution.
Read also: We’ve provided structured security for businesses to thrive – Oyo Govt
He stated that four bank robberies had been recorded within the three local government areas in recent times, lamenting, the seemingly abysmal presence of security personnel on the ground who are usually overwhelmed and gruesomely murdered in cold blood calls.
The lawmaker said: “The House notes the persistent and unabated rate of deadly armed robbery attacks targeted at banks in Odo–Otin/lfelodun/Boripe Federal Constituency, which has paralysed economic activities. The House also notes the recent robbery attack on September 28, 2021, where criminals invaded and looted Wema Bank, Iragbiji in Boripe Local Government Area, killing innocent Citizens.
“The House further notes that the dastardly robberies started on February 12, 2016, when three commercial banks, namely Skye Bank (now Polaris), First Bank and Union Bank, were simultaneously robbed in Ikirun, Ifelodun Local Government Area, the headquarters of the federal constituency and killed 10 people to the carnage.
“The House observes that within this year, three distinct bank robbery incidents had taken place in the remaining two LGAs that made up the federal constituency, thus subjecting residents to perpetual fear, economic woes as a result of the relocation of all the banks to neighbouring communities several kilometres away from Odo–Otin/lfelodun/Boripe constituency.”
