AT least, 33 out of the 36 states of the federation have men of the Nigerian Army complementing the police, in order to protect the citizens.

The statistics was given on Monday by the General Officer Commanding the Second Mechanised Division, Ibadan, Major-General Muhammad Abubakar, in Osun State.

Abubakar made the declaration during the launch of a new security outfit for the state, Swift Action Squad (SAS), put in place by the government of Governor Rauf Aregbesola.

He said that though the security of life and property was the primary duty of the police, men of the armed forces were deployed in about 33 states to complement the efforts of the police in bringing about peace and security.

He noted that the precarious security situation across the country, including kidnapping, terrorism, illegal oil bunkering, ritual killings, among others, had made it impossible for the army to stay in the barracks.

Major-General Abubakar promised that the armed forces would do their best to combat crime, so that the state and the country could be crime-free.

He commended the initiative of the state government and urged members of the public to support the police in combating crime.

Governor Aregbesola, while inaugurating the new security outfit, warned criminals to steer clear, as the state was no longer a safe breeding place for criminal activities.

He stressed that the state had zero tolerance for criminal activities.

“The security of our people is non-negotiable,” Aregbesola said, adding that the primary responsibility of a responsible government, as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution, is the security and welfare of the people.

“We have ordered and procured hardware that could be deployed for land and aerial surveillance, to confront and vanquish the most sophisticated criminals and make their venture into the state unprofitable and very costly.

“Our aim is to respond to  distress call in any part of the state within the shortest possible time, foil any attempt by bandits and other criminally intentioned individuals, make escape impossible and effect their arrest after which they will be made to face the full wrath of the law. Any criminal that tries to test our will may not live to regret it,” he said.

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