Connect with us

Nation

Fear, apprehension in Kogi over resurgence of banditry 

Published

on

Fear, apprehension in Kogi over resurgence of banditry 

 – Residents finger ex-gov. Bello’s thugs

The increasing spate of kidnappings and wanton killings by bandits in Kogi state, especially the Yoruba-speaking areas that comprise five local governments widely known and addressed as Okun people, have become quite worrisome. Only last week, two people were said to have been kidnapped in Isanlu, the headquarters of Yagba East Local Government Area.

Sometimes towards the end of last year, an army colonel was allegedly kidnapped by gun-wielding bandits numbering about eight somewhere between Kabba and Okene.

Fear and uncertainty have gripped the citizens. Concerned about the plights of his constituents, Senator Sunday Karimi of Kogi West Senatorial District, reportedly built a military base to address the rising insecurity in state.

The military base, located in the outskirts of Egbe, Yagba West Local Government Area of the state, according to Karimi, would help to improve security in Kogi and some areas in Kwara State.

Speaking during the inauguration of the base sometime in October, the Senator said the project was to help the military and other security agencies to ensure quick response in combating terrorists, kidnappers, and other criminals.

He said, “I conceived the idea of the military base in January this year to assist the Nigerian Military and security agencies to ensure quick response in combating terrorists, kidnappers, and other, criminal’s whose activities in recent times around the border of Kogi and Kwara (where there is a great expanse of forest that is fast becoming a fortress for criminals) is becoming an issue of national concern.

“It is also hoped that the presence of a standard military base will serve as a deterrence to these criminals and restore peace and security in the communities in Kogi and Kwara states.

The senator noted that the military base contained two hostels containing 85-bed spaces for soldiers, fully furnished with beds, beddings, and all fittings for comfortable human habitation; armoury; furnished office apartments for the commander of the base, among others.

Advertisement

In his address, the Governor of the state, Usman Ododo, represented by his Special Adviser on Security, Jerry Omadara, said the base would enable the army to have the security of the area under its control.

The then Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, who was represented by the GOC 2 Division, Ibadan, Major General Obinna Onubogu, commended the lawmaker for the gesture.

 

“As the Chief of Army Staff, I am able to say that it is through this kind of partnership and shared vision that the Nigerian Army is reassured that members of the civil populace appreciate our efforts in covering insecurity across the nation.

Lagbaja had said, “Kogi State is integral to that effort because it is the most central state in Nigeria. Forward operating bases like this are critical because they help us project our operations to not only the host states but to neighbouring states as well.”

 

Thursday, 10 May 2024, would remain a sad note in the annals of insecurity in the state. This Red Letter Day for the Confluence University of Science and Technology, CUSTECH, Osara would for ever remain etched as bad memory. The otherwise lively and ebullient   students’ community was gripped by   panic when bandits  invaded it, shooting sporadically in all directions.

The time was about 8:30pm, when not a few students were gathered in classrooms, burning the night candles  in readiness for their upcoming examination. By the time a semblance of sanity was restored, scores of the students had been kidnapped.

It was later discovered that while the attack lasted, all the Close Circuit Television CCTV cameras installed in the institution were disabled fuelling a strong suspicion of internal sabotage. Similarly, the closure of an auxiliary gate hampered the escape of the traumatized students.

Advertisement

A rescue team comprising hunters. vigilantes, policemen, Department of State Security, DSS, and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC personnel was immediately constituted. After many days of painstaking investigations, combing the bush and fierce gun battle with the outlaws, the state government announced the rescue of twenty-one of the victims. A police helicopter provided air surveillance in the operations. At the time of this report, an unspecified number was yet to be accounted for.

In the last few months,  Kogi people have lost sleep over a gradual resurgence of criminality, resulting in a drift to anarchy in parts of the state. Some 48 hours before the Osara mayhem, gunmen, described as Fulani, had invaded Ejiba market in Yabga west Local Government Area, LGA. They abducted a popular trader in the community, Bukola Awo, and two others. The kidnappers later  made contact demanding a whopping. N20 million for their release.

On Friday, 17 May,  2024 bandits reportedly killed two people in the same area. They were said to have been killed while travelling on the usually lonely Ogbe to Koro road. The fatality had thrown the two communities into mourning, deep ennui, and fear.

A few days after the Osara breach, hoodlums struck in Lokoja, the state capital. On Tuesday, 14 May, they traced a woman politician, Comfort Alege, to her residence around Old Poly quarters. As she got to her neighbourhood alighting from her car to open the gate, the bad guys swooped on her and violently forced her to an unknown destination. A video of the woman in which she was blindfolded and desperately making appeal for people to come to her rescue later surfaced on social media.

Also Agojeju Odo in Omala LGA, where communal clashes have claimed several lives, is the centre of insecurity in Kogi East. Commercial abductions are also rampant in different areas of the Senatorial district. Commuters have randomly fallen victim to the kidnappers.

Worried by the activities of non state actors, Governor Usman Ododo, who had at different times visited both flashpoints at Agojeju Odo and Osara, recently approved the allocation of more than 100 vehicles to security agencies in all parts of the state. The governor also visited President Bola Tinubu to solicit federal assistance in tackling the challenge.

In the West Senatorial Zone, apart from the references to earlier the incidents, the Lokoja-Obajana-Kabba Road has often fallen to the control of kidnappers. Their favourite spots are Aiyegunle Igun, Alape, Oshokoshoko, Akpata, and Gada Biu. In a lesser proportion, there have been infractions between Ijagbe, Mopamuro LGA, and Ijowa, Yagba East LGA.

In the Central, people have been kidnapped on the ever busy Okene to Lokoja Road. Many have fallen victim around Mark Farm and Abobo village. Others were taken on the Checkpoint- Adogo-Ajaokuta road.

Bandits  are said to have formed a parallel government in parts of Kogi State, collecting taxes from traumatized and hapless farmers and fishermen.

Advertisement

This was disclosed by the apex diaspora Igala social-cultural group, the Uk’Omu Igala Organization in a  Save Our Soul (SOS) message to President Bola Tinubu some months ago over persistent attacks from bandits and herders in Dekina and Omala Local Government areas of Kogi State.

In a statement signed by its National Leader, Elder David Abutu, and National Director of Mobilization, Suleiman Akpa, the group begged Tinubu to check the murderous and destructive activities of strange Fulani herders in Igala land.

The statement added that the onslaught by bandits, who invaded the communities as herders, had killed farmers and destroyed farmlands and villages.

“In the last one month, bandits, who invaded our villages in the name of herding, have attacked peaceful farmers, killed several persons, destroyed villages, and rendered thousands of people homeless in Omala and Dekina Local Government Areas of Kogi State.

“Our people have no weapons to fight these stranger Fulani groups, who are armed to the teeth. They are lawless and brutal. They have made Igalaland hell on earth for many peasant farmers whose only means of livelihood is farming.

“Apart from murdering our people and destroying their farms, the bandits have formed a parallel government in Kogi State, collecting taxes from farmers and fishermen before allowing them to access their lands and ponds for fishing.

Uk’Omu Igala noted that the Kogi State Government has not lifted a finger to help people of Omala and Dekina LGAs.

Meanwhile, the Kogi state  government says it is rising to the challenge of defeating criminality in whatever form it may take. Kingsley Fanwo, Commissioner for Information and Communication, linked the torrent of attacks to the war against terror in the North East.

“With the rescue of 21 out of the 24 CUSTECH students kidnapped in the beginning of the year,  the State Government made a clear statement that Kogi will be ruthless against criminals in the State. This morning, we also received the heart-warming report of the rescue of the Yagba West woman that was kidnapped and another woman from Yagba East Local Government Area. We are still searching frantically for the 3 remaining students yet to be rescued as every Kogite’s life is important to the government. We have also secured the release of scores of kidnapped victims who are not even Kogites but who were kidnapped in their various states and taken to the forests.

Advertisement

“The Governor also has approved the immediate employment of thousands of local hunters across the 21 Local Government Areas, with the immediate task of going after the criminals and taking the fight to their camps and hideouts, which is already yielding positive results.

But to retired Gen Ipinyomi, an indigene of the Kogi West, insecurity still persists. It was alleged that the bandits are part of the thuggery squad recruited by the ex-governor, Yahayah Bello for elections and other political objectives, who have found themselves jobly after their has left office.

While decrying the increasing spate of insecurity in Kogi State, Okun Society Forum had called for the removal of Commissioner of Police, Bertrand Onuoha, for not doing enough in the alleged security lapses.

Meanwhile, the  Kogi State House of Assembly has repeatedly voiced concern over the increasing spate of insecurities.

A member representing Yagba East in the Kogi State House of Assembly, Emmanuel Obaro, said this in October this year when he moved a motion of urgent public importance on the floor of the house in Lokoja.

 

 

 

Kidnapping, he added, is creating a ripple effect that can harm individuals, and families and engulf the environment with fear and uncertainty across the various communities in Yagba East Local Government.

Advertisement

The lawmakers called on the state government to investigate the increasing cases of armed theft and kidnapping to identify individuals involved, their modus operandi, and areas of operations, and put an end to the same.

In support of the motion, a member representing Igalamela/Odolu, Major Enefola, lamented that the resurge of kidnapping, banditry, and armed robbery remains a thing of concern for all in the State, stressing that, all hands must be on deck to address this societal menace

 

 

Adeyinka Adebayo -Elewe, an architect and indigene of Egbe, one of the hotspots of kidnappings, told Business Hallmark that ” since the Army Base was constructed by Senator Karim, the situation has improved, the joint military and police and other security operations has yielded results, many arrests have been made.

 

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *