The Ogun government has deployed 10 patrol vans and 20 motorcycles in the Yewa axis to check the herders-farmers crisis, debunking claims that 5,000 indigenes fled to the Republic of Benin.

The government made the deployment was made on Tuesday.

At the vehicle presentation ceremony in Abeokuta, Governor Dapo Abiodun said, “This gesture is, therefore, a step in making good my promise to support the taskforce for the success of its assignment.” 

The governor added that the people of the area who lived close to the Republic of Benin’s border area usually had difficulties making distress calls.

He explained that the state held meetings with telecommunication firms, adding that plans are underway to deploy more masts to address the issue.

Mr. Abiodun explained that the equipment was meant only for the Yewa axis, saying that the same would be replicated in other parts of the state.

He called on people to stop ascribing crime to a particular ethnic group, saying that “a criminal is a criminal regardless of where he comes from.”

The governor said the proliferation of fake news also contributed to deepening the crises in the area.

He denied claims that no fewer than 5,000 Ogun indigenes fled to seek refuge in the Republic of Benin because of the crisis.

“I wonder who took the census and how that can take place without meetings between Nigerian officials and those of the Republic of Benin.

“Some who came to Abeokuta because of the crisis were provided with free accommodation, and so I wonder why some people would just sit down somewhere and be cooking up untrue stories,” he said.

Abiodun explained that the Ministry of Justice had already started working to ensure that there are necessary laws to punish fake news publishers.

(NAN)