As part of the efforts to tackle crimes and criminals in their vicinity, the Ebira people living in Ondo State have announced the ban of all traditional festivals in their communities in the state.
The communities also urged the state
Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, to establish the Amotekun posts in various
communities where the Ebira people reside across the state, and enlist their
indigenes in the state security network agency to assist in the fight against
the criminal elements.
Speaking in Akure, the state capital on
behalf of the Ebira people from Kogi State living in Ondo State, one of the
leaders of the communities, Abiodun Umoru, said his people are ready to join
hands with the security agencies to fight insecurity in the state.
Umoru, who expressed displeasure over the
mention of one Idris Ojo, who was an escapee from Kuje prison as one of those
arrested for carrying out the massacre in Owo on June 5, 2022, a month after,
said some steps had been taken to ensure that criminals were flushed out of
Ebira community.
According to him, one of such steps was
banning traditional festivals in Ebira communities in the state; saying anybody
who wanted to hide under traditional festivals to perpetrate evil in the state
would be handed over to the security agents.
He said, “We can no longer fold our arms
while some of our kinsmen will be acting against our cherished cultural norms
and values.
“We have warned and educated our women who
sell food items at strategic locations on the major roads of the dangers of
hobnobbing with suspected criminals by volunteering information to them.
“We use this medium to appreciate the
present administration for its tireless efforts at reducing the rate of
criminality across the state. We pledge not to relent in our commitment to
continue to contribute our quota to the socio-economic and political
development of the sunshine state.”