Ufedo Foundation, a non-political socio-cultural organisation based in Kogi East has appealed to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Solomon Arase, to quickly help address the incessant violent criminal activities in East Senatorial District of Kogi State.
Engineer Abdul Audu, national president of the Foundation made the call yesterday when he led members of the foundation on a visit to the Assistant Inspector-General (AIG), Zone 8, Garba Ardo in Lokoja.
Audu said the area in the last few years had witnessed several cases of insecurity, such as kidnapping, armed robbery, cultism and menace of killer herdsmen.
He added that rather than abating, the crises had continued to soar on daily basis with the attendant loss of lives and property.
“Part of our problem stems from the fact that we are bordered by about six states and these states all have levels of peculiar crises that infiltrate our sides.
“For instance, infiltration of the Agatus from Benue State chasing Fulanis into Bagana and Ibado-Akpacha in Kogi, payment of ransom in Enugu and Anambra for persons kidnapped in Kogi among others.”
He said that the situation had seriously retarded the peace, progress and development of the senatorial district of nine local governments areas and largely agrarian communities with a lot of commercial activities.
The foundation, therefore, called on the IGP to establish a Mobile Police Force (MPF) unit in the area, increase the number of Area Command offices and help train the local Vigilance Groups in the fundamentals of community policing and security.
Ardo, the AIG Zone-8 comprising Kogi, Kwara and Ekiti described the visit and appeal as right steps in the right direction and emphasized the need for functional vigilance groups and Police Community Relation Committee (PCRC) to be in place in every community.
Credit: Sam Egwu/Leadership
