Kogi East Elders Council (KEEC) has called on President Bola Tinubu to declare a state of emergency in Kogi State over escalating insecurity.
The Elders Council urged President Tinubu to appoint an administrator to oversea the affairs of the state.
A statement by the Secretary, Political Committee of KEEC, Alphonsus K. Alhassan also demanded that the governorship election scheduled for November 11 be postponed.
Their demand, they said, is a fallout of political brigandage being allegedly deployed by the government of the day to foist a candidate on the people
They also demanded the redeployment of the State Commissioner of Police, Mr Bethrand Onuoha, Director of DSS, Navy Commander NU Akalezi and Superintendent of Police Ojo out of Kogi State immediately, alleging that that they have been compromised.
“All the to-be redeployed officers should be made to face appropriate administrative probes and sanctions to serve as deterrent to officers who abuse their commissions.
“The heads of security agencies in Kogi state cannot pretend not to know where the insecurity in the state is emanating from. If they claimed not to know, they have failed woefully in their mandates and do not deserve their employment as agents of the state,” the statement read.
The Elders Council argued that a state of emergency is necessary to ensure that the upcoming election is free and fair.
They also argued that a state of emergency would allow the security agencies to focus on restoring law and order in the state.
“Elections are meant to be opportunities for people to freely choose their leaders, party affiliation notwithstanding.
“What we are seeing in Kogi State and Kogi East in particular leaves much to be desired. We cannot watch our people intimidated, harassed and slaughtered endlessly by anybody in the name of politics. We have had enough of this beastly behavior.”
They also warned sons of Kogi East who made themselves available to be used to perpetrate violence to desist from such a dastardly act, saying that posterity will judge them when their paymasters must have left office