Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Ige Adams, has applauded the joint efforts of all the security operatives in Ibarapa in Oyo State on the arrest of the most dreaded and notorious kidnap kingpin, Abdullah Wakilu and three others in a joint operation carried out on Sunday, describing the development as a positive signal to other criminal elements that the South-West was no longer safe for them.
The joint team of Ibarapa security operatives, including Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), vigilante and other groups had arrested Wakilu and others after several attempts culminating in a gun battle.
Wakilu was nabbed barely seven days after his second-in-command, Isiaka Muhammadu, was arrested alongside four others, by the Oyo State chapter of the OPC on the directives of the Yoruba generalissimo.
Wakilu, who was arrested around 7 am on Sunday, had been handed over to the Divisional Police Office, Igbo Ora, Oyo State.
Reports say Wakilu and his gang had, for a very long time, been involved in the killings and kidnapping of several people in Ibarapa, in Oke-Ogun area of the state.
Adams, while speaking on the development, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Kehinde Aderemi, hailed the joint security team, saying the efforts paid off, coming at a time when Wakilu and his gang had made life unbearable for the people of Ibarapa and its environs in Oyo State.
While noting that the arrest was a good development and a positive signal to other criminal elements that the South-West was no longer an abode for bandits, kidnappers and criminal herders, Iba Adams said it was also a clear indication that the fight against insurgency, kidnapping and banditry needed native intelligence, information gathering and grassroots support.
“I am happy that the notorious kidnapper had been captured alongside three others. It is a good development and a positive signal to other criminal elements that the southwest is no longer an abode for bandits, kidnappers and criminal herders.
“I commend all the members of the joint security team that have made this possible because with the video at my disposal, it was purely a neat job.
“With this development, I think the whole world will agree with me that the fight against insurgency, kidnapping and banditry needs native intelligence, information gathering and grassroots support from local securities and operatives.
“As I have said earlier that the effort to rid the South-West of bandits and kidnappers was to complement the efforts of the police and in doing that, it is also very important for the police to support the local security operatives because they are always at the grassroots and they have their ears to the ground on local security matters,” he stated.
Iba Adams pointed out that the success recorded so far would help in advancing the call for community policing and further enhance police operations in information gathering, adding that the joint security team that arrested Wakilu did their job without taking laws into their hands.
