Leaders of some civil society organisations (CSOs), lawyers and other professionals have charged Kogi State indigenes at home and in the Diaspora to support security agencies to make the state rough for criminals masquerading as politicians.
They said such questionable characters need to be checked as the November 11, 2023 governorship election approaches.
At a press conference attended by representatives of over 50 CSOs yesterday in Abuja, under the platform of Lawyers and Activists for Good Governance, they appealed to the people of the state to resist individuals they described as “criminal political merchants” trying to blackmail security agencies in the interest of their “unpopular ambitions.”
A lawyer and co-convener of the group, Mr Mohammed Abdulrazaq Sani, who addressed the press on behalf of others, said, “Personally, I am from Kogi State like a few of those on this high table. Therefore, we know exactly what is happening in that state beyond the propaganda engaged in by some unscrupulous elements fond of trading in blackmail and crocodile tears.
“An average Kogite who understands the state’s terrain very well would testify that Kogi State in the last seven years plus has witnessed the uprooting of violent criminals like kidnappers, terrorists, armed robbers and others from the state since the inception of the current administration in the state.”
The activists, however, warned that some mischievous political figures in the state were working towards bringing back the dark days of instability by supporting criminal elements to cause chaos.
The same sponsors of criminal activities, they said, would, thereafter, quickly rush to the public to point accusing fingers at security agencies or the state government.
“These characters would rather that criminals and terrorists be left to run amok unchallenged while law abiding Kogi State residents and indigenes who have been enjoying peace and security for over seven years live in fear and panic,” the lawyers and activists said.
They called on security agencies not to relent in their efforts to rid the state of criminal elements, saying their backers must be arrested and prosecuted for the peace and stability of Kogi State.
The activists’ statement reads, “This Press Conference is necessitated by our concern over the activities of some desperate politicians in Kogi State who are in the practice of orchestrating violence and at the same time playing victim in order to deceive unsuspecting members of the public by pointing fingers in the wrong direction.”
He continued, “ I am from Kogi State like a few of those on this high table. Therefore, we know exactly what is happening in that state beyond the propaganda engaged in by some unscrupulous elements in the state fond of trading in blackmail and crocodile tears.
“Of recent, we have seen an upsurge in the activities of some of these desperate politicians boldly sponsoring antidemocratic forces to consistently blackmail the security agencies who are carrying out their legitimate constitutional duties of protecting lives and properties and tagging them as being overzealous in keeping criminals out of the streets of Kogi State.
“These characters would rather that criminals and terrorists be left to run amok unchallenged while law abiding Kogi State residents and indigenes who have been enjoying peace and security for over seven years should live in fear and panic.
“These sponsors of disharmony specialize in playing one ethnic group in Kogi State against the others in their wicked and evil agenda to make sure that crisis erupts in the state which they reckon could work in their favour to clinch political offices, especially as the state’s governorship election is approaching.
“They have been engaging in criminal propaganda on social and regular media to create mass disaffection against the incumbent government in the state. An average Kogite who understands the state’s terrain very well would testify that Kogi State in the last seven years plus has witnessed the uprooting of violent criminals like kidnappers, terrorists, armed robbers and others from the state since the inception of the current administration in the state.
“But there are mischievous political figures in the state who wish to bring back those dark days of instability by supporting criminal elements to cause chaos in the state and thereafter quickly rush to the public to point accusing fingers at security agencies or the state government.
“This is in a failed bid to cover their poorly disguised criminal tracks, especially when security agencies go after their criminal protégés.