Victor Akinkuolie, Ado-Ekiti
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The Ekiti State Government has called on the military to restrategize on tackling security challenges bedeviling the country.

The Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi, reiterated his call for the review of withdrawal of soldiers from checkpoints on the major roads in the state.

Egbeyemi noted that the spate of kidnapping in Ekiti increased after the withdrawal of military personnel from checkpoints.

The Deputy Governor called on the military to look for more alternative means of preventing men of the underworld from perpetrating their nefarious activities.

Egbeyemi stated  this at a church service to mark this year’s Armed Forces Remembrance Day which took place at the Government House Chapel, Ado Ekiti, the state capital.

The Deputy Governor spoke in response to the remarks of the Brigade Commander of the Nigerian Army 32 Artillery Rrigade, Akure, Brig.-Gen. James Ataguba, that “the soldiers were withdrawn from checkpoints to more fluid areas to enable them respond swiftly to any case of insecurity reported to them.”

Alluding to the security measures obtainable in other countries, Egbeyemi urged them to take cue from their strategies to rid the country of kidnappers and criminals.

“In Nigeria, the security system is not as it is in the abroad, you must have gone out to some of these countries. And those of us who have been to Britain, America and China, you must have seen military men in the market and everywhere watching over the people.

The Deputy Governor emphasized on the need to remember the fallen heroes and take proper care of those presently serving in the military.

Earlier in his remarks, Brig.-Gen. Ataguba said the effectiveness of the army would only be ascertained by the prompt information given to them by the citizenry.

The one-star general called on the people of the State to desist from shielding people of questionable characters and criminal elements in the society.

Commenting on the success of Nigerian Military in other countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone and in Sudan, Ataguba said the military would not rest on its oars until the security challenges in the country was finally laid to rest.

In his sermon, the Government House Chaplain, Rev. Lawrence Adetola, described the Military men as God’s ministers sent to secure the lives of the people on earth, adding that they needed prayers to succeed in curbing security challenges in the Country.