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The Oyo State House of Assembly, yesterday, urged the government to urgently deploy security surveillance on its forest reserves and root out bandits and other criminal elements.
It said the incessant reports of activities of bandits in the forest reserves had reached an alarming stage.
The motion was co-sponsored by Mr Sanjo Onaolapo representing Ogbomoso South, Mr Peter Ojedokun representing Ibarapa Central/North Constituency, and Mr Bamidele Adeola representing Isèyin/ Itesiwaju Constituency.
The lawmakers, in their separate contributions to the motion, described encroachment into the state forest reserves as regrettable and dangerous. They attributed the porous conditions in the reserves to negligent management and inadequate security personnel.
Mr Babajide Gabriel, representing Ibadan North Constituency II, said the absence of state police had further compounded the security challenge in the forest reserves in the state. He chided individuals and groups challenging Governor Seyi Makinde in court over efforts to convert a forest reserve opposite Agodi Gardens into an ultra modern Baywood Estate.
Gabriel said remains of dead people were exhumed from the forest during preliminary clearing out of the forest, which was indicative of unknown previous criminal activities in the forest. Other lawmakers, in their submissions, urged the government to develop some of the forest reserves across the state to serve public good.
Mr Lukman Ishola, representing Oorelope State Constituency, said both state and federal government should have a rethink about forest and the purpose of reserves. He called for its use to align with the primary intent of creating them. The lawmakers equally urged the state government to recruit more guards to secure the forest reserves against insurgents from neighbouring states. The Deputy Speaker, Mr Mohammed Fadeyi, who presided over the plenary, commended the governor for his consistent support to the security agencies in the state.
“The purpose of forest reserve is to provide ozone layers for healthy oxygen and provide fresh air that engenders a good ecosystem,” the deputy speaker said.
Fadeyi countered calls that forest reserves be put to use and developed by the government, saying such a move would defeat the primary purpose of creating the forest reserves. He stressed that no society could do without forest reserves.
Fadeyi, however, appealed to the state government to recruit more hands to secure the forest reserves to foster effective security around the areas and, by extension, the state.
