Kogi State has in the past recorded attacks on police stations, banks, worship places and DSS facilities, often linked to activities of insurgents operating within Okene and other parts of the Central Senatorial District. Those elements, believed to have links with some terrorist group Boko Haram, are said are said to be largely responsible for high-profile kidnappings, and armed robbery.
Kidnappings, armed robbery and killings have been perpetrated by these elements along the Lokoja-Okene, Okene-Kabba, Okene-Adogo-Ajaokuta, Abobo, Itakpe, Oshokoshoko, Eika and Adavi axis of the state. One case is that of a female lecturer in the Department of Biological Sciences at the Federal University of Agriculture Makurdi, Christie Agbulu, who was kidnapped in Lokoja on November 26, 2016 and killed by her abductors after collecting ransom of N100,000. Her decomposing corpse was later found on January 3, 2017.
On January 1, 2017, a traditional ruler, the Ohi of Eganyi in Ajaokuta local government area of the state, Alhaji Isah Achuja was abducted at gunpoint along the Lokoja-Ajaokuta road but was later freed after payment of ransom.
Court judges, bankers, travellers, clergymen and all kinds of people have in the recent past fallen victim, with some getting killed. Those believed to be responsible are widely seen as Boko Haram elements, going on to launch various attacks on security outfits in the state. A recent case is the attack on a police station at Eika, Adavi local government area on February 9, 2017 which saw 2 policemen and a community leader killed.
Last year, on September 26, some suspected members of Boko Haram also attacked the headquarters of the DSS in Lokoja, reportedly freeing some of their members who were being detained there.
Before then, in March, a man suspected to be the second-in-command to Boko Haram leader Abu Shekau, was nabbed in Lokoja by security forces. Sources told Daily Trust that the suspect, identified as Khalid Al-Barnawi, was rounded up at the Chari Maigumeri Barracks following a tip-off. The suspect was there to visit a relative when he was caught.
Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, had warned on a plot by a Boko Haram-affiliate group, to attack banks, army depots and prisons in the country. Meanwhile, there have been concerns following the recent security alert issued by the federal government about the existence of a terrorist group called Muslim Brotherhood in Kogi State, as well as the subsequent confirmation by Governor Yahaya Bello that some fleeing members of the Boko Haram terrorist group from the North-East are now seeking “safe haven” in the state.
Governor Bello, at the 7th edition of National Security Seminar in Abuja on Tuesday February 21, said the state has become a haven for Boko Haram since they were routed from Sambisa Forest. Following that, the Commander, Command Army Records Lokoja, Brig. Gen. Henry Ayamasowei on Wednesday paraded 17 suspects arrested during a military operation launched on Boko Haram cells and hideouts of kidnappers existing within the Kogi Central Senatorial District.
The Commander said the operation launched by the army in the last three weeks led to the arrest of two members of the Boko Haram sect while the 15 other suspects were those that have been coordinating various kidnappings and armed robbery operations along the Okene, Adavi, Obajana and Adogo axis. A large cache of weapons recovered from the suspects was displayed, including a pump action gun, an AK-47, locally-made double barrel guns, pistols, IED materials, live ammunitions, a T-shirt with Boko Haram inscriptions, among others.
The suspected Boko Haram members arrested include one Abdulazeez Isa and his sponsor, one Tijani Abubakar who claimed to be a traditional ruler.
Brig. Gen. Ayamasowei said some of the suspects confessed to have taken part in the recent attack launched on a police station at Eika in which two policemen and a traditional ruler were killed. “We have been aware for quite some time that there are sleeper cells of the terrorist group in the state,” he said, adding that the security authorities have been able to cripple the insurgents operating in Kogi State.
Governor Bello said that the law against kidnapping and terrorism is in full force, and he warned that buildings use for kidnapping and terrorist activities will be pulled down.
“It’s a major cause of worry, a major problem that is growing,” said Usman Abdulrahman, a schoolteacher based in Lokoja. “But God is on our side,” he added. Kogi residents remain tense, even with the gains of the government and security personnel in the fight against kidnapping and terrorism.
Credits: Itodo Daniel Sule | Daily Trust
