Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, on Monday, condemned the brutalisation of two officials of the State Road Transport Management Agency by the officials of the Nigeria Immigration Service in Ibadan, the state capital.
He made this condemnation during his visits to the residents of the two assaulted officials, Nurudeen Abiola and Taiwo Adeagbo, as well as the state Command of the NIS, all within Ibadan metropolis.
Makinde decried the inhumane treatment meted out to the OYRTMA officials for apprehending an officer of the service for violating traffic rules.
He assured the victims that the government would take necessary action and bring the culprits to book.
He said, “First, this should not be happening at all. It is very unacceptable.
“Whether you are Immigration official or you work for other paramilitary agencies, these individuals are just trying to enforce the laws of the state.
“The fact that you work for a federal agency does not mean you are superior.
“So, I have asked the Attorney-General to ensure we follow this through.
“We will write to the Immigration authorities and prosecute the people involved, as this is not acceptable in the state.”
Makinde, while speaking at the office of the NIS, located at Agodi Gate, Ibadan, where he was received by the Comptroller Abdulrasheed Ademola, called for better intra- and inter-agency cooperation among security agencies in the state.
The governor declared that there must not be a recurrence of such an incident, adding that “the state is known for inter- and intra-agency cooperation. So, the incident is very unfortunate.
“I have asked the state’s Comptroller of Immigration that they should cooperate with us. Yes, they said this thing happened at the zonal level. There is an ACG in charge of the zone, who we plan to reach out to.
“I have been assured by the state command of NIS, and also the zone, that they will cooperate with us to get to the bottom of this matter and ensure that this does not happen again. The state must be known for the rule of law, and we have zero tolerance for people breaking traffic rules,” he insisted.
