Imperative of re-engineering security architecture, strategy in kogi By Dada Ahmed

By Dada Ahmed

Kogi state, without mincing words is one state whose tourism potentialities are seriously crying for harnessing to boost its revenue profile.

Tourism analysts believe that with political will of its state government and active collaboration of the members of the public sector,the state will, sooner than later, become t tourism hub of Nigeria.

From the popular confluence site where Rivers Niger and Benue meet and flow as one giving birth to the acronym” Confluence kogi state”, to the first primary school in the north,dating back to 1864, the European cemetery, the first bank in Nigeria, the Lokoja Club of 1901 the office and relaxation spot of Lord Lugard, the Governor general of Nigeria,Munt patti, 1,500 height above sea level which harbours Lugard’s relaxation spot, the list is endless.
The enormous but latent tourism resources of the state notwithstanding, kogi state can best be described as a geopolitical entity whose residents and those on transit on its land continue to sleep with one eye open due to the activities of criminal elements of sort, kings among who are the kidnappers, armed robbers and cultists.
Perhaps, one date residents of Lokoja, the state capital will not forget in a hurry is June 10, when news filtered into the society about the activities of kidnappers.

The day once revealed the gravity of insecurity of life and property in the state as kidnappers struck at Gegu in Kogi Local Government Area of the state and once more unleashed terror on the passengers of an Abuja bound Luxury bus.

The kidnappers did not only lead many of the passengers of the bus into their den for ransome but killed some of their victims, including the owner of the popular Chuks Supermarket in Lokoja, Mr Nicolas Ofodile. The deceased was said to be traveling from Lokoja to Abuja in his private Jeep when he ran into the kidnappers and had his life snuffed out.

Barely two months before this dastard act, the kidnappers had struck in the eastern flank of the state and the western flank within an interval of a day and kidnapped a total of 16 persons in the two “dangerous drama.” This is in addition to Kidnapping a couple and their well wishers returning from their wedding ceremony in the central flank of the state.At the end of week of torture, the kidnappers released their victims after a whopping ransom but forced one of the victims to pay a supreme price for offence not committed.

As kidnappers take delight in having field day on innocent members of the public in the state, armed robbers too are not relenting as they continue their activities on the people as well as notable institutions too in the state.

For instance, the people of Isanlu in western flank of the state are yet to recover from horror of the robbery attack on the branch of First Bank in the town which claimed the life of eight police officers in few minutes!

Disturbed by the rising chart in cultism and other criminality in higher institutions of learning in the state, Governor Yahaya Bello ordered heads of such citadels of education to move to action and fish out the criminals for justice and for the innocent students to have peace in the pursuance of their educational aspiration.

Not relenting in stemming the frightening wave of crime and criminality in its jurisdiction, the state government in conjunction with the Nigeria police authorities recently established two Mobile Police stations in Okene and Obajana-Kabba road.

One of the matching orders handed down to the two security institutions by the Governor, include fishing out kidnappers and mop up the quantum of guns in the possession of criminals among other terms of reference.

Residents say the state government has tried its best possible in checking kidnapping and other crimes in the state but certainly, there is room for improvement to effectively allaying the fear of insecurity in the minds of the people.

Members of the Ebira Peoples Association (EPA), the umbrella body of all Ebira people at home and in the Diaspora, say they are seriously concerned about the rampant cases of mindless killings, kidnappings, robberies and other violent crimes and general insecurity and criminality in Kogi State, especially in Kogi Central Senatorial Zone.

In a statement by Dr. A. Adeiza, President-General of EPA, the ebiras noted that despite the efforts of governments at all levels, criminals seemed to operate freely and unhindered, recalling that in the last one year, no week passed without incidents of kidnapping, abduction and even murder in the state.

The association gives the picture of security situation in the state thus and the way out of the woods of kidnapping and other crimes in the area: “Kogi state is geographically at the heart of this country as the only state that has land borders with as many as eleven states and the Federal Capital Territory (a third of the country).

“If we dare to look the other way while criminal elements carve out a place for themselves as a forwarding operational base, the consequences may be too much for the entire country if another insurgency brews in this area.

“This problem is not ours alone. The entire country must wake up to this danger, and help eradicate this virus.
We are under siege in Kogi Central.

“The situation is so bad that nearly everyone in Kogi Central in particular, now lives in absolute fear. Sons and daughters of Kogi Central who live outside the state are now scared of coming home.

” For many other Nigerians, traveling through the state has become a fearful experience as security is not guaranteed.

“The situation has also taken a heavy toll on businesses in an area generally regarded as the economic nerve-centre of the state.

“Most abductions in Nigeria are done for ransom and the victims are usually freed upon payment of ransom or some form of negotiation. The situation in Kogi State has gotten so bad that even where the kidnappers have been paid or offered ransom, the victims are either killed or kept in the custody of their abductors with no further communication with relatives, thus foreclosing them reuniting with their families.

“Let it be on record that no abducted person has ever been successfully rescued, as those that have so far gained their freedom have done so after paying ransom.

“EPA has followed with keen interest efforts by the Kogi State Government and the Local Government Authorities of Kogi Central Senatorial Zone in combating the menace of kidnapping. But in the light of the worsening situation, there is an urgent need for a change of strategy.

EPA commend the security agencies and assuring them that it will continue to avail them useful information that will assist them in wiping out criminal elements in the state.

” We cannot also fail to observe that these security agents appear overwhelmed at present, largely due to logistical and manpower inadequacies. Intelligence gathering has also become ever so difficult as many residents fear to complain to the increasingly complacent security agents. Such level of distrust has further worsened an already bad situation.

“There cannot be effective policing when persons to be secured don’t feel safe enough to share credible intelligence with the agencies.

“The majority of our people are peace-loving and law-abiding. We have resolved, therefore, not to fold our hands and allow a small band of evil people to turn our homeland into a fiefdom of criminals. We urge our people to be vigilant and to report suspicious persons within the community to the appropriate authorities.

“We must also remain our brothers’ keepers by sustaining the goodwill, love for one another and good neighbourliness which we are well known for.

“We commend the youths of Kogi Central, particularly members of the Ebira Youth Congress, for their steadfastness and vigilance. I urge our people to remain steadfast and be ready to defend their communities at all times.

“We have agreed to continue to interface with government at all levels and to support the security agencies in addressing the security challenges in the area.

“We shall deepen our partnership with the mass media, especially the local media organizations, to raise the level of awareness and security consciousness among our people while also supporting other communal efforts to arrest these unfortunate incidents of kidnapping in our land.

“We would like to specifically make the following suggestions to government at all levels. Our suggestions consist of Short, Medium and Long Term measures, policies and strategies which we hope would be urgently considered and approved:
All police, soldiers and state security officers as well as para-military agents currently serving in Kogi Central should be redeployed immediately and be replaced with new ones. As a matter of fact, no security agent should spend more than six months in the area to avoid being thoroughly compromised as it is being largely suspected now. The total number of personnel in the state in general needs to be increased to effectively cope with the geographical peculiarity of the state.
The association gives on:

“Both federal and state governments should make concerted efforts to reinforce and review security measures in terms of material, personnel and modus operandi in order to safeguard lives and properties in Kogi Central.

Security should be intelligence driven by interfacing with community leaders, ward heads, local vigilante groups, hunters, farmers.

There should be a coordinated tactical operation to smoke out criminal elements from their hideouts in homes, bushes, caves, hills, etc.
Security surveillance should be on 24-hour duty across the land, instead of the present situation whereby most hotspots are left unmanned through most hours of the day.

Operational strategy to security matters should be proactive in approach rather than reactive, while adopting a more effective method to unravel all already perpetrated damages.
Governments should as a matter of urgency explore and support the possibility of integrating “CIVILIAN JTF “ into the security system of the land to complement conventional security agencies.
Governments should provide toll free security numbers to report cases of security infractions.

Kogi State government should mobilise hunters into vigilante groups at various community levels
The state government should constitute a body of community- based organization heads to proffer solutions to various security threats and to enhance intelligence gathering.
The federal government should urgently complete the moribund Ajaokuta Steel Company to reduce youth unemployment, which is partly responsible for the rising crimes.

The state government should construct more police posts at various dark spots in the district so that criminals will no longer hide there.”

All said and done, the belief here is that, security of life and property is crucial toward kogi state government realising its goal of harnessing reach and abundant tourism potential of the state.

Analysts in tourism sector believe that as long the wave of crime and criminality in the state remain unabated, so long is the effort to tap the reach tourism potential of the state will be a mirage.

Therefore, the time for the Bello-led administration to return to the drawing board, to restrategise its security architecture and strategy, toward reducing crime and criminality in the state to the barest minimum is now.

However, frantic efforts by the state government to get rid of the kidnappers and other criminal in the jurisdiction has started to register notable dividends.

The joint security forces of the kogi state government, including members of the vigilante group, have repelled kidnappers’ onslaught against innocent members of the society, killing two of them in a reinforced fight against the criminals in the state.

Two of the kidnappers were said to have met their Waterloo on Monday on Lokoja-Abuja Highway at about 4.a.m when about 15 of them,armed with Ak-47 rifles, engaged the security outfit in an exchange of gun fire.

The repelled kidnappers were caught up in the act when they ambushed commutters on the highway while the remaining ones escaped with various degrees of bullet wounds.

Tthe Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Security, Kogi Local Government Area, Isah Abdulkarim said the kidnappers, numbering about 15 and armed with AK-47 riffles, ambushed commutters at about 0320hrs on Monday on Lokoja-Abuja Highway.

He said: “On 13th July 2020, about 0320 hours at Idu Bridge, on Lokoja-Abuja express way, Kogi LGA, unidentified bandits numbering about 15, armed with AK-47 rifles, ambushed commutters and fired sporadically at a Sienna bus with registration number BKN46XA.

“Their bullet hit the upper arm of the driver of the bus and two other passengers, Blessing ONU (35) and Eze IKECHUKWU ( 40) conveying vegetables from Akure to Abuja. They were rescued by our team.

“The team went after the kidnappers which led to the death of two of the daredevil criminals during gun exchange while some of them escaped with bullet wounds.”

Another kidnapping attempt was also repelled along Okene-Lokoja road by the proactive efforts of the Vigilante service.

Security analysts believe that the feat by the joint forces is a reflection of Governor Yahaya Bello’s avowed commitment to ensuring a safe and peaceful environment in kogi state, a strategic geo-political entity in the political,economic and social evolution and equation
of Nigeria.

They, however, called for more efforts to root out all forms of crime and criminality in the state.

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