By Dada Ahmed in Lokoja.
Member in session during the meeting..
Members of the Kogi Centre for Peace and Development Initiative, also known as the Kogi Central Think Tank Forum (KCTTF), have called on the Kogi State Government to initiate a bill to the State House of Assembly for delibration and passage,for the establishment of a additional security outfit.
KCTTF members, who gave the advice on Wednesday during their monthly meeting in Lokoja ,said the outfit would complement the efforts of conventional security agencies in effectively tackling kidnapping, banditry, and other forms of crime in the state.
The Forum members explained that their advice became necessary due to the rising cases of kidnapping, banditry, and other criminal activities across various parts of the state in recent times.
In their resolution, members cited the alarming increase in kidnapping incidents around Karara, Banda, Ageva, Ogori, and other locations within the Western and Eastern Senatorial Districts of the state.
They noted that Kogi State’s vulnerability is worsened by its location,being bordered by nine states, many of which have high rates of kidnapping,making it a target for criminals fleeing from those areas.
They described the surge in kidnapping, especially between Karara and Banda along the Lokoja-Abuja highway, as terrible, adding that if a state security outfit resembling Amotekun in the southwestern part of Nigeria is established in Kogi, it would go a long way in checking the ugly trend.
The Chairman of the Forum, Dr. Haroun Opotu Yussuff, who endorsed the submission of members on the issue, noted that many travellers have been kidnapped in Karara and other places in the state, adding that some victims lost their lives while others had to cough up millions of naira in ransom to regain their freedom.
In a similar development, the Ad-Hoc Committee on Research and Documentation of the Forum has drawn the attention of the Ohinoyi Egbira, His Royal Majesty, Dr. Mohammed Tijani Anaje, to potential dangers and future encroachment on Egbira lands.
In the memo from the ad-hoc committee to the traditional ruler, read during the meeting by its chairman, Daudu Abdulkarim Bello, the Forum noted that, “It is a well-known fact that the lands of the Egbira Kingdom are entirely encircled by Fulani settlers.”
The Forum added that the development has reached “the extent that there have been reported cases of frictions between Egbira farmers and the Fulani settler-herders.”
According to it, as a result of the friction, the production of crops such as vegetables, tomatoes, pepper, and some tubers has been virtually hijacked by Fulani settlers in farming areas of Egbiraland.
The Forum suggested that to prevent future clashes between Fulani herders and Egbira farmers, it should be made mandatory for all clan heads in the Egbira community to obtain permission from local government chairmen before leasing or selling land and landed property to non-Anegbira.
The Forum also called for the revival of the Land Conflict Resolution Committee, to be chaired by the Ohinoyi and include the Local Government Secretary, Area Veterinary Officer, Area Agriculture Officer, the Local Government DPO, the Ardo of the Fulani, and members of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria.
The Forum stated that the urgent revival of such a committee would greatly promote peaceful cohabitation between indigenes and non-indigenes in Egbiraland and help prevent violence.
Meanwhile, a former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Kabir Ajanah, who breezed in to the meeting as a guest, commended the Forum members for remaining relevant to the wishes and aspirations of the Egbira people in Kogi State.
Ajanah, who described the members of the Forum as “retired but not tired” in rendering valuable services to the state, in view of their enviable pedigree,promised to draw the attention of the state government to the Forum’s activities and utilize their expertise and advice in promoting better collaboration and enhance socio-economic development and other areas of human endeavor in the state.
