Council of Lagos Obas with Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and her deputy, Dr. Oluranti Adebule in group picture when the obas paid the governor a visit at the State House, Ikeja on Tuesday.

Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu has charged traditional rulers and residents of the state to be on security alert in the face of kidnapping and criminality in Lagos.

This follows the recent kidnap of the Oniba of Iba land, Oba Goriola Oseni by gunmen.

The oba was released on Saturday after a ransom of N15.1 million was paid.

Akiolu led the Council of Obas on a visit to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode at the State House, Ikeja on Tuesday to thank the governor for the role he played in the release of Oba Oseni.

The oba said with the rate of insecurity in the country, all traditional rulers must rearrange their security architecture in order to nip crime in the bud.

Akiolu warned kidnappers and other criminals to desist from such debilitating act in their own interest and look for other legal ventures to make ends meets.

However, the monarch said the reason for paying Ambode a visit was to thank him for facilitating the release of Oba Oseni, saying that: “We thank God Almighty for sparing our lives to enable us see today and bringing one of us back home, Oba of Oniba who was kidnapped.

Speaking during the meeting, Ambode said at the initial stage when the oba was kidnapped, it appeared as if government was not doing anything as that was not actually the case.

According to him, It was not just a sacrilege in Yorubaland, but the traditional institution was indeed desecrated. So, we needed to dig into what really happened to reach a logical conclusion. I want to thank the Oba of Lagos and all of you that showed concern and support and that this kind of thing must not happen in our land again.

“We will now pay greater attention collectively to the security of our traditional rulers. We need to increase security, especially for those rulers in the riverine areas. Whatever it is that the Council of Obas must do, must be done to strengthen the security in that area. But there must be cohesion and unity among us,” he said.

According to Ambode, “anything that will bring about peace and make the State progress is our priority and the security of lives and property has always been the priority of this government.”