Chief Sunday Umoru in his article on July 22, 2018 unfairly misrepresented facts about security in Kogi state with negative adjectives as “deplorable” because he is eying the Lugard House on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. This is the same party that left the state in coma before 2016.
He has committed many sins. First of all, the party he wishes to use to rise to power has craw-craw of insecurity, reverse growth, underdevelopment and mediocrity as a “work experience” all over Nigeria, chiefly Kogi State. Between 2014/15 under the PDP led Government, the highest form of social and political crimes were witnessed in Kogi state. On the social scale, armed robbery was the first business of many youths which went unabated. Kidnappings was like pimples on the face of a teenager currently undergoing puberty. People kidnapped everyone and anything including goats, for ransom. It was a wicked reputation that Okene-Lokoja road was known all over the country not because of her industrialized nature or quality of road infrastructure, hoodlums made check points like security operates to harvest lives and properties without full-stop. In fact, it went on like Lugard House was sleeping pregnant woman.
On a political scale, street urchins and established thugs held territories to themselves. They formed a parallel government. They were Kings and Queens in their domains. They held thug rallies and collected taxes on the fears of the people. Everyone lived in fear and constant fear. Assassination of political nature was like Iraqi war. It went on everyday with people missing like a child stealing meat from a pot of soup.
Such was the deplorable nature. Fear. Anxiety. Lawlessness ruled everywhere. In fact, I could bet that Chief Umoru must have escaped Kogi state for a while, especially during that period. Let us ask him in his next rejoinder, if not true.
It is unfair and most times unpatriotic when politicians begin to use security as a political tool, especially when it has no bearing on political parties and individual aspirations to political offices. A puzzle therefore lies on the ambition of our high Chief. How can the most performing indices of the current administration, security, which is meant to be a joint effort by all and sundry be subjected to such political larceny and permutations for political aspirations?
Chief Umoru cited the unfortunate incident of assassination of Mr. Solomon Sani, the Director of Works at Federal Polytechnic, Idah as his bullet point to qualify the adjective “deplorable” in his appraisal of security in Kogi state, but then the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Apapa Local Government Area (Apapa Iganmu and Apapa LG), Omoba Niyi Aborishade was assassinated on the 21st of July, 2018 under circumstances which law enforcement agents finger the PDP echelon in the state as masterminding (see link http://www.nairaland.com/4632040/call-members-order-lagos-cp), does that mean that Lagos State in a deplorable insecurity state?
If the a sitting United States President, John. F. Kennedy could be assassinated in the most policed nation in the world, why should anyone make such insincere claims under our own climes? With the current security architecture we have in Nigeria, the National Police distribution per citizen is 40 Nigerians, ratio one police man. By implication, 1 Police man is responsible for the security of 40 Nigerians. This figure is getting stretched on a daily basis as birth rate is more than death rate as well as the population keep increasing with the security infrastructure somewhat dragging or constant at its figure. On the whole, the state of security or insecurity can only be determined by the “aggregate”, because a secure state does not mean crimes would stop entirely because people have not stopped being born with criminal tendencies. Politicians have not stopped killing their rivals for dominance. Thugs have not stopped attacking each other. But on the response infrastructure on the large scale, has the Kogi state Government not put a template in place that has mitigated the usual crimes in the state?
Can anyone who has conscience and character claim that a wide-gap difference in security does not exist between the periods of 2014 and 2018? Let us separate security from politics and campaign.
In the month of August last year, national crime reports trickled in their reports, citing Kogi state as the most secure state in Nigeria for that month, with 0.62% crime rate on reported cases of kidnapping, armed robbery and other civil crimes. In that same year, the Governor of the state bagged the Inspector General of Police’ Award on Security, acquiring the status of the Best Governor on Security. Maintaining that statistics, Okene which houses 51% of the crime rates in Kogi state had a state of emergency declared on her and other local government in Kogi Central where deep stroke exorcism were carried out, with many kidnappers and their dens captured and their buildings destroyed.
A rendezvous of all the security agencies in the state was created, which adequate presence in many hot spots in the state, while the roads were cleared by each pavement by 20meters on both sides to give a better eye view to road users, to prevent hoodlums from laying siege on them, while 15 kilometer perimeter check points were erected by security agents who worked day and night to prevent insecurity.
In the same year, the Kogi State vigilante services was commissioned into service with hundreds of operational vehicles and security gadgets running into billions, put into use. The vigilantes upped the community policing architecture, collating local intelligence data gathering for the federal forces, while also maintaining peace and security in their local units. Most Local Government Administrators and royal fathers were also committed into the process. Everybody was out to work and are working to ensure security of the lives of Kogites.
In the early bed of this year, when the rampaging Fulani Herdsmen which security intel hinted had crossed from Benue State to Kogi due to her volatile boarders do cause mayhem, attacked some rural villages at Omala and Dekina Local Government Areas, the response from the Government in stature and mobilization of security personnel to the troubled spots is still fresh on the minds of Kogites as the Governor drove into streams and bushes to visit the affected communities. While deaths go unabated in other states, when last did that happen in Kogi state?
The underlisted points is a template. It has demonstrated a process. It has shown the will to combat insecurity. It has shown that even the FG is aware of the improvement of security in Kogi state. Every Kogite living in the state can also testify to this. In conclusion, my aspiring high chief also pointed how the convoy of Senator Dino Melaye was attacked/blocked by hoodlums when he visited the state recently. He also mentioned the case of Senator Ahmed Ogembe from Kogi Central. Does that mean only the elites who are even barely in the state require security? Does that mean only their lives matter in the over 4.3 million Kogites living in the state? If National Security apparatus appraise Kogi on the scale of drastic reduction in insecurity, how can Chief Umoru place the lives of few politicians to be above the lives of the 4.3 million who are vulnerable, without security details following them like bees about? These ones are the vulnerable. They are the most affected, their lives also matter. They are the ones who use those roads daily. They are the ones who live amongst the thugs politicians use to cause social mayhem. They are the ones being protected by the Kogi State vigilante services. They are the majority. They are the ones being secured as politicians play politics with lives and properties.
For the benefit of historical fact, if people like Senator Melaye which Chief Umoru mentioned, care about the people so much, why did he stage a protest sometime last year against security instructions, pulling our vulnerable students for his personal political gains which led to the death of a student of Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja?
If Chief Umoru is serious with Lugard House struggle, he ought to tell us his new plans to up security in the state. He has to be showing us his vision-map. We need to see his manifesto which would be visionary, because everyone seem to be criticizing what Bello has done or haven’t done but nobody is saying what they will do differently which is out of the box. Remember that Bello still has a blueprint that covers 4 years of his administration. Where is Chief Umoru’s blueprint?
Does he think Kogites think the problem of Kogi State is about Bello and not the laid down system over many years? Chief has to be chiefing us into his plans on how he intends to fix the “system”. His first exam on appraisal of state of things in Kogi clearly shows he has not passed or he is taking another exam. Every Kogite know that Bello owe salaries, but Bello is not leading a state under insecurity.
Meanwhile, the salary of May was just shared to states by the FG on Friday. We are in July. Many people don’t remember this, although Bello owe salaries but they don’t forget the security of sleeping well, day and night.
– Promise Emmanuel (Kogi Rebel)
