Oyo Residents React As Hoodlums Invade, Loot Lawmaker’s Residence

Hoodlums on Saturday afternoon, invaded the residence of the lawmaker representing Oyo South senatorial district, Senator Teslim Folarin, carting away various materials meant to empower residents of the constituency.

The empowerment materials carted away from the residence of the lawmaker located at Oluyole area of Ibadan, the state capital, by the hoodlums included motorcycles, freezers, grinding machines, among others.

Reacting to the incident, various residents in the state have expressed worry over the ongoing invasion and loot of private and public properties in various parts of the country.

Kilotomo Rafiu, a civil engineer who resides in Ibadan, stated that the current unrest in the country is scary and unfortunate.

He maintained that the level of crimes committed by hoodlums in the last few days is an indication that no one is safe in the country any longer.

“I was devastated when I heard of the attack because if hoodlums could have burgled into a serving Senator’s house and properties were carted away, what is the fate of ordinary citizens?

“If he could have experienced such attack then I think we are not safe in this country any longer,” Kilotomo said.

Speaking further, he described the hijack of the EndSARS protests by miscreants as an unfortunate occurrence noting that it is now sacrosanct for government to take responsibility by rising up to the occasion to restore law and order in the country.

“I just wish the government take responsibility on time because the action of these miscreants has cost us a lot already. We have lost lives. We have lost properties.

“Many businesses have crumbled. I just hope our government take responsibility by doing the needful before things degenerate further,” he added.

However, another resident, Barrister Fola Owoeye stated that the ongoing unrest is basically due to the fact that residents no longer trust government officials any longer.

He explained that even though Senator Folarin might have “a genuine intention to distribute the materials found in his, people no longer have trust in them (politicians) again.”

“What is the communication between those you have elected and the electorate. After the elections, that is the end and they will only come back in 2023 to seek re-election. Constituency offices are no longer working. They have been converted to party offices.

“If there is proper communication between the constituency office and the youths, they might know that there are these things that our Senator has bought for us. What is the distribution method? Is it five people per district or local government?

“They will have to communicate every information to these people but presently we don’t have stuff like that,” Owoeye said.

He added that the communication gap between elected political office holders and the electorate is the main reason why some hoodlums have decided to invade and loot residence of government officials.

Seven Suspects Arrested

Meanwhile, immediately some residents took wind of the invasion and they alerted security personnel in the state.

This reporter gathered that when officers of the Oyo State joint security task force, Operation Burst, arrived the scene, majority of the hoodlums had made away with the loots.

However, seven suspects identified by the residents were arrested at the scene.

Speaking with newsmen on the invasion, the lawmakers elder brother, Mr Yinka Folarin explained that the looted materials were meant for an empowerment programme which was scheduled to hold on November 6.

He added that the empowerment programme was meant for constituents in all the 11 local government areas of the senatorial district.

The invasion of the lawmaker’s home is one out of the series of attacks on residence of government officials and private businesses in various parts of the country.

These invasions and attacks erupted following the outcry that followed the shooting of protesters by uniformed men at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos State on October 20.