The Igala Youth Leaders Assembly (IYLA) has called on the Federal Government to intervene in the deplorable state of security in Kogi East Senatorial District. The group made the call in a statement issued on October 20, 2023.
In a 10 points communique signed and issued by Rt Hon Dr Ojoachele Akor Felix
Speaker IYLA and Salifu Oguche Usman,Esq, (LL.M) Head, IYLA Civil Liberty Desk, the group alleged that the Kogi State Government is sponsoring terrorism in the Eastern Senatorial District of the state. The group said that over 47 politically motivated murders have been committed in the state in the last three weeks.
The IYLA also accused the Kogi State Police Command and the Department of State Services (DSS) of complicity in the killings. The group said that the security agencies have failed to rise to the defence of the people despite the abundance of preemptive reports of most of the attacks.
The IYLA called on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Inspector General of Police, the National Security Adviser, and the Chief of Defence Staff to come to the aid of the people of Kogi East and have law and order restored in the state.
The group also called on the Federal Government to defer the forthcoming Kogi State gubernatorial election if it is incapable of protecting the life and property and democratic rights of the people of the state.
The IYLA said that the people of Kogi East will choose to uphold their lives and liberties over political contest. The group called on the people to remain calm, peaceful, and law abiding.
FULL TEXTS OF THE COMMUNIQUEÂ
Recall that sometimes in June, 2023, the Igala Youth Leaders Assembly in collaboration with some other civil society organisations held a protest at the unity fountain in Abuja, the Federal capital city of Nigeria whereat, we highlighted the deteriorating state of security in the state, and the complicity of the Governor of Kogi state, which condones and orchestrates the Civil unrest by its tacit approval of thuggery and its promotion, to destabilize the Eastern part of the State. We are calling on all relevant stakeholders to rise to the occasion by appealing to the Federal Government of Nigeria to live up to its constitutional responsibilities of securing the lives of our people living in palpable fears and terror daily being unleashed by the Kogi State government on the people of Kogi State, while the thoroughly compromised Police high command look the other way as the terror rages on causing many of our youths lives and limbs.
2. These calls were followed by series of protest and press conferences by several Kogi and Igala interest-based organisations validating our position with strident calls for actions to put an end to the ugly development in the State.
3. It is with heavy hearts that we state here with emphasis that our calls were not given a priority it deserves while the state sponsored terrorism festers to generally undermine the security of lives and property of our people degenerate to the present dangerous level in the State. It may interest you to know that within the last three weeks, there have been over 47 politically motivated murders in several parts of the state, from Koton Karfi in Kogi LGA to Dekina where scores of young men numbering about ten have been killed in the most senseless manner, same is Ofu LGA which has become the hot bed of government sponsored terrorism in Kogi East, where one Mr Friday Makama, a non State actor and a notorious outlaw patronized sponsored, financed and protected by the State Government, who has declared himself to be above the law struts about unchallenged with personnel of some security agencies of government operates openly unchallenged destroying people’s lives while the State Governor, Yahaya Bello provides him with State cover.
4. The numbers of the injured or maimed and millions of properties destroyed during the period under review is indescribable. It is however,a sad commentary on the culpability of the Kogi state police command, National Security and Civil Defense Corps, the DSS and other security agencies, which have all in their complicity failed to rise to the defence of our people despite the abundance of preemptive reports of most of these attacks.
5. May we state that the Kogi state Police command and DSS are more particularly complicit in all of these attacks against our people and the killings of one another by rival thugs all loyal to the state government as they have not only refused to check the excesses of the thugs but have in certain situations provided cover and overt protection for them to carry out their evil trade with their support.
An example of the Security agencies’ complicity,was/is the recent case of assassination attempt on the SDP gubernatorial candidate in the state on the 18th October, 2023, where one Mr Friday Sani Makama, whose Agency was proscribed by the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja declaring same illegal was given official cover by officers of the Kogi State Police command to launch an unprovoked attack to assassinate Alhaji Murtala Yakubu Ajaka, the SDP Governorship candidate in the November 11th elections while returning to Idah after a successful political campaign in Kogi Central. It took the combined intervention of the security team on his convoy and supporters to foil the attack leading to the arrest of an Assistant Superintendent of Police who led the onslaught.
6. The foregoing is nothing fundamentally different from a similar onslaught led by a convoy of the Deputy Governorship candidate of the APC earlier on the same 18th October, 2023 which led to sporadic shooting at the venue of SDP rally, again properties including several cars were destroyed, while many were injured bringing the peaceful rally to a grinding halt as supporters of SDP, who had gathered in their thousands for the peaceful rally scampered to safety as sporadic gun shots rent the air.
7. Infact repeated scar tales of our peoples’ murder, intimidation, unlawful arrests, brutalization and humiliation all on political grounds by the government of Kogi state and their thugs assisted and shielded by security agencies but the summarised truth is that this is absolutely antithetical to the tenets of democracy and rule of law that this country professes to practice.
8. On the strength of the foregoing therefore, we call on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Inspector General of Police, the National security adviser, the Chief of Defense staff and all such relevant individuals, persons and agencies to come to our aid and have law and order restored in our state.
9. May we also state that the present political atmosphere in Kogi state doesn’t in any way reflect a democratic environment and if the Federal Republic of Nigeria is incapable of protecting the life and property and democratic rights of our people, then it should invoke all such powers within its confines to have the forth coming Kogi state gubernatorial election deferred, we make bold to state that our people’s lives rank highest to political contest and where we are to choose between the two,we shall have no difficulty in choosing to uphold our lives and liberties.
10. We expect immediate action before further damage is done in our state. We call on our people to continue to remain calm, peaceful and law abiding while we promise to engage all such honest and genuine mechanism for these purpose.
Thank you and God bless Nigeria.
God bless Kogi state, and
God bless Igala Youth Leaders Assembly.
Rt Hon Dr Ojoachele Akor Felix
Speaker IYLA.
Salifu Oguche Usman,Esq, (LL.M)
Head, IYLA Civil Liberty Desk.