Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has given marching orders to security operatives to ensure the re-arrest of Sunday Shodipe.
Shodipe is the wanted prime suspect in the series of murders in Akinyele Local Government Area of the state.
Governor Makinde, who was represented by his Special Adviser on Security, Fatai Owoseni, at a Town Hall meeting in Akinyele, said the re-arrest of the suspected mastermind of at least six ritual killings in Ibadan, must be made a top priority of security operatives.
According to him, the state government places a premium on the security of lives and properties in the state and residents should remain calm and not take laws into their hands.
The governor said he shared the pains of the people of Akinyele over the incessant killings in the area, stressing that people must continue to cooperate with law enforcement officials to bring an end to the menace in the area.
“All of us have followed the incidents in Akinyele; the arrest of the principal suspect in the case and, of course, his escape from custody, after being arraigned in court.
“We are here in this Town Hall meeting and Governor Makinde has directed that we should let the people in the community know that as governor, he shares their pain; and as people of Oyo State, we share in the pain and what has happened is condemnable and unacceptable in all materials particular,” Owoseni who is a retired Commissioner of Police said.
He added, “Be that as it may, the governor also wants us to dialogue with the people, with a view to ensuring that as much as security challenges can affect economic development, so also are barbaric actions like taking laws into people’s hands.
“Yes, the people have the right, having suffered such pains, to come out to protest. But when we do our protest, we should do it in a way that will not continue to destroy the property of people because the properties of people we are destroying could also be members of our family.
The governor and the Inspector General of Police, according to Owoseni, have given marching orders to the Commissioner of Police in Oyo and all his officers to work with the people in the community, so as to ensure that the suspect is rearrested.
He, therefore, urged the people to cooperate with the police to put an end to the incessant killings and crime in the community.
“Just like the state gave the security agencies the wherewithal and tools to apprehend that suspect in the first case, so also is the governor deploying whatever is necessary and the enablement that will make them succeed.
“And they must work in partnership with the members of the community in the spirit of community policing,” the retired police commissioner said.
Meanwhile, police authorities in Oyo say all relevant tactical teams have been put on red alert for the rearrest of the fleeing suspect.
They, however, urged residents not to take laws into their hands when they come across the suspect, but hand him over to the nearest police station.
