Insecurity: Kogi West Leaders Seek Probe Of Bello, Ododo

Community and opinion leaders in the Kogi West senatorial district have called for a security probe into the activities of former Governor Yahaya Bello during his eight-year tenure.

The stakeholders also called for scrutiny of the activities of the incumbent governor, Ahmed Ododo, who they alleged is toeing the line of Bello’s alleged complicity in the incessant attacks on communities in Kogi West.

The zone’s leaders, in a public document, a copy of which was obtained by THE WHISTLER at the weekend, expressed concerns over what they described as insidious plans by the ex-governor and his successor to orchestrate long-lasting instability in Kogi West for political control.

Coming on the platform of the Okun Leaders League (OLL), the stakeholders, cutting across the six local government areas of Kogi West, raised the security alarm, charging the relevant federal authorities to act before it’s too late.

Listed as co-authors of the jointly signed document are:
Group Captain Denja Mahmud (rtd)
(Oworo, Lokoja), Canon Andrew Baiyekuhi
(Kabba-Bunu), Mallam Qassim Yusuf
(Ijumu), Dr James Ogbondeminu
(Mopamuro), Engineer Omobowale Palufe
(Yagba East), and Chief Samuel Obaro
(Yagba West).

“The Okun Leaders League (OLL) is compelled by recent unsavoury developments in the security sector in the Kogi West senatorial zone of Kogi State to request the investigation of former Governor Yahaya Bello and his successor, Ahmed Ododo, by the nation’s security services for possible complicity.

“We make this appeal in the expectation that this interrogation will be speedy and thorough.

“As a hastily thought policy of his administration back in 2018, Bello opened the doors of Kogi State to Fulani herdsmen for the establishment of cattle colonies in parts of the state.

“While this, on the surface, was supposed to facilitate the establishment of cattle colonies to mitigate incessant bloody confrontations between the herdsmen and farming communities, Bello aimed to score further political capital.

“The move was both to ingratiate himself with former President Muhammadu Buhari and to boost his electoral figures in the 2019 elections,” the document stated in part.

The obviously apprehensive stakeholders observed that over the past seven years, the herdsmen that ex-Governor Bello brought in have expanded across the sprawling, solid, mineral-rich expanses of land in Kogi West and have veered into illegal mining activities.

They said, “Their (herdsmen) activities are most pronounced in the Yagba federal constituency, notably communities in the Yagba East and Yagba West local government areas, easily the most afflicted by the scourge.

The leaders also listed Omowa Mopo, Ilafin and Oke-Ilero in Isanlu, headquarters of the Yagba East council area, where gold, granite and kaolin are being illegally mined, as epicentres of relentless bandit attacks.

“Localities in Yagba West, which have been serially unsettled by the criminal activities of marauders, include Egbe, Ogbe, Ogga, Omi, Isanlu-Esa, Okoloke and Okunran.

“In some instances, some of these communities were wholly evacuated by residents. The Eruku to Egbe road, linking Kwara and Kogi states, has become a zone of dread and death in recent weeks.

“Last Tuesday, worshippers at the Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku, Kwara State, were attacked by bandits who killed three persons and abducted 38.

“This was never the situation in Kogi West until Yahaya Bello entrenched Fulanis into the sociocultural scheme in Kogi State,” the document stated.

The Okun leaders expressed deep concern over the Eruku church attack, noting that the tragedy is coming closer to home, considering Eruku’s proximity to communities in Kogi West.

They observed, conversely, that the Kogi Central senatorial zone, where Ebiraland, where Bello and Ododo come from, is suddenly the most peaceful part of the state.”

According to the Okun group, hitherto, the Ebira part of Kogi State had the reputation for being the most combustible section of the state, mainly triggered by communal clashes and youth unrest.

“Bello was indeed instrumental to the recent installation of two non-indigenous royals, the Sarkin Fulani and Sarkin Hausa in Ebiraland, Kogi Central, to consummate his long-orchestrated adulteration of the cultural practices of the state.

“This he did without consideration for the sociocultural sensitivities of the indigenous Ebira people, reputed for jealously guarding their culture.

“Kogi East occasionally witnesses episodes of kidnapping on roads and highways traversing the zone, but not on the scale which has cast a pall on Kogi West.

“Arising from the foregoing, it is very obvious that Yahaya Bello, as governor, indeed scripted the instability in Kogi West, which is being implemented by Ahmed Ododo.

“Whereas a very concerned Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq of Kwara State promptly requested presidential approval for the immediate deployment of more military and police personnel to contain rising insecurity in parts of Kwara, outside of his own relatively safe Kwara Central Senatorial Zone, Ododo is content with the despairing security situation in Kogi West.

“His singular focus and that of his mentor, Yahaya Bello, is to convince Kogi West into endorsing him for a second term, even without tangible achievements to show.

“We call on the various intelligence and security agencies to probe the complicity of Bello and Ododo in the unabating insecurity situation in the Kogi West Senatorial Zone.”

Efforts by THE WHISTLER to get a reaction from the Kogi State Commissioner for Information, Kingsley Fanwo, proved abortive.

Repeated calls and WhatsApp messages to Fanwo were not responded to.

Mr Fanwo led ex-Governor Bello’s information management team and also retains the role in Governor Ododo’s administration.