Respite as Army tackle kidnappers in Kogi

  

Residents of major towns in Kogi State are heaving sighs of relief following the arrival of a special military squad in the state to tackle the menace of rampant kidnapping of citizens and residents of the north central state. Sources within the state said for once in a long time, Kogi residents are going about their daily activities without fear of being abducted by rampaging gunmen.

The federal government had deployed the special military squad to the troubled state following widespread outcries by residents that kidnapping and other related crimes have bedeviled the state in recent times. The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai, according to reports, personally informed the Governor of the State, Mr Yahaya Bello, of the deployment during a meeting with him at the State’s capital, Lokoja.

He said that the Federal Government was worried over the increase in kidnapping and other related crimes and was ready to curb the situation. The Army Chief was in the state with some of his men on a working visit to the military formation to see the challenges facing them and proffer a solution to enable them carry on with their constitutional responsibility of ensuring internal security.

Barely four weeks after  two judges were kidnapped in the state by hoodlums who demanded ransom for their freedom, another Customary Court of Appeal Judge, Mr. Isiaka Momoh-Jimoh, was abducted while his police orderly was shot dead. Reports had it that he was returning to Lokoja at about 5.30pm when the kidnappers flagged down his vehicle at Itakpe- Kuroko road, a by-pass to the Abuja-Lokoja- Okene highway and hijacked his vehicle.

The account said, immediately the judge’s Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) was flagged down, the gunmen rained bullets on the Police Orderly, killing him on the spot while the driver sustained serious injuries before they whisked away the judge to an unknown destination. His abduction, coupled with previous ones, caused widespread condemnation of the security situation in the state and attracted the attention of the federal government.

Same week, two middle aged women were also kidnapped along Obajana- Kabba road, while coming from Abuja to Ilorin, Kwara State on a business trip. It would also be recalled that due to the incessant robbery and kidnapping activities in the state, a helicopter with a detachment of a Special Squad were deployed by the Inspector- General of Police.

The Squad led by a Commissioner of Police combed round the state for about a week and arrested some of the suspected hoodlums. However, barely few days after their departure, the hoodlums were said to have resumed their nefarious activities. This heightened the fear of residents as well as travelers in the state.

Buratai had immediately ordered a review of the tactics in the military operation against kidnappers and other criminals in the state. He said that the troops must change their mode of operation to contain the spate of criminality in the state, adding that criminals hiding in the hills and forests must be fished out at all cost.

He said that the Army headquarters would provide the necessary logistics to aid the troops in arresting the ugly trend in the state.

“You must change the way you operate in the state; you have been trained to operate in the hills and forests, so I expect you to change your tactics. I have spoken to your commander and I am hoping that you will have a new approach to the operations; the approach has to change for the better.

“We provided those motorcycles for you so that you can move deep inside the forest and arrest the criminals; that was the essence of deploying the motorcycle unit to this place. We are making efforts to get additional vehicles for you,” he said. Buratai, who urged the troops to remain committed in the task of dismantling criminal gangs in the state, assured them of improved welfare.

Speaking on the development, the senator representing Kogi Central in the red chamber of the national Assembly, Senator Ahmed Ogembe has commended the Chief of Army Staff, general Buratai for the step taken in to Kogi state to curb the menace of kidnapping and banditry.

The senator who made the statement through his media assistant, Adetayo Opeyemi, decried the spate of incessant kidnapping is the state and described it as unacceptable.

“Our people cannot continue to live in perpetual fear of been kidnapped, the activities of kidnappers has affected the economy of the state, potential investors are running away from the state for fear of been kidnapped,

The situation is indeed worrisome, but am glad that the Nigerian Army has taken steps in addressing the security  challenges facing the state,”  Ogembe said. He commended the unrelenting efforts of the Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello in addressing the security challenges facing the people of the State.

Senator Ahmed assured the citizen of the state, that with the collaborative effort of the State Government and the Nigerian Army will purge the state of criminal elements.