Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, on Wednesday, inaugurated a Police Mobile Squadron in Ago-Are, a town in the state.
The governor, while speaking during the inauguration of the Police Mobile Force 72 Squadron and presentation of six Hilux trucks for the operations of the outfit, thanked the Inspector-General of Police for cutting bureaucratic bottlenecks to grant approval for the Squadron.
Appreciating traditional institutions, elders and leaders of Ago-Are in particular and Oke Ogun in general, for their support, Makinde also commended the officers of the Squadron for the positive testimonies he has so far heard about them, urging them to be efficient in the discharge of their duties.
As part of activities commemorating the first anniversary of the administration, the governor had commenced the distribution of seedlings to 10,000 farms in the state at Iseyin, noting that the effort was part of the government’s palliatives to ensure food security in the state post-COVID-19 pandemic.
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According to him, the success of his administration is due to the efficient management of the resources of the state adding that his government will ensure the speedy completion of the permanent site for the Unit.
“I am glad that we are together today, to officially commence the operations of PMF 72. How did we give birth to the Squadron? I made a request on the 19th of August, 2019 to the Inspector General of Police, which was less than 3 months after we came into office, because security is one of the pillars of this administration.
“As I have always stated, the safety and security of lives and properties of the people of Oyo state is a top priority for this administration. It took me and the entourage about two hours to get here. And if we are to go to Kisi, it would take another two to three hours from here to get there. That is how vast Oyo State is. Oyo state is bigger than some countries in Africa. To cover the entire state, of course, we need personnel, logistics, and agile police mobile force and that is why we have PMF 72.
“From all the technical evaluation that was done, Ago-Are in the Oke-Ogun axis of Oyo State became the choice. I want to thank you, Kabiyesi. Kabiyesi just mentioned in his speech now and I have seen the site for the permanent location of this squadron. He donated a 1km by 1km site and I give you the commitment of the government of Oyo state to speedily ensure that this place is well-developed, because the welfare of the squadron is very important.
”Let me also emphasise that, for this administration, there is a very strong commitment to security and we would do everything within our power to ensure that our people go about their businesses in a safe and secure environment. The rehabilitation of this temporary site was done in record time and I thank everyone including the commander of this squadron for the work that you did to ensure that this is completed speedily and made habitable.
“I cannot end this address without charging you the officers to be efficient in the discharge of your duties. And why did I harp on efficiency? This is because when we came in, the naysayers said, within six months, they would probably be stoning us. But now, it is going to be one year in a matter of two days but the people are not stoning us. It is because we have decided to manage the resources of the state efficiently. The resources are limited but when wastages are cut and you are efficient, with that limited resources, it would give us a whole lot of mileage.”
