By Our Reporter, Lokoja.
The local Government Chairman identifies the influx of Fulani herders in connivance with some criminal traditional rulers as the cause of insecurity.
Youths of the Odo Ape community in Kabba-Bunu local government of Kogi State, on Saturday, staged a massive protest against sustained gunmen attacks and loss of lives as gunmen killed two persons in the community.
The protesting youths blocked the Lokoja-Kabba federal highway that passes through the community.
They bemoaned the seeming neglect by state and federal government to their plight.
Unknown gunmen suspected to be kidnappers struck again on Friday in the Odo-Ape community, killing two persons on their farm.
An eyewitness who craved anonymity described the gruesome murder of the two innocent individuals who were going about looking for their daily bread and met their untimely death as sad.
He said the gunmen, who are suspected to be kidnappers, gunned down one Tiv man named Mr Black while moving his farm produce to the market site in preparation for market day, which is the next day in Odo-Ape.
According to him, Mr Black could not stop when the gunmen tried to stop him by force. Hence, they opened fire, killing him on the spot.
He further noted that after they had killed Mr Black, they discovered one Sunday that Aiyedero was on the farm within the vicinity, about three kilometers from the community.
Immediately he was sighted, they opened fire and killed him instantly.
This attack is coming barely one month after unknown gunmen attacked the same community and kidnapped the newly elected ward councilor.
Some of the residents who spoke to our reporter described the security situation in Odo-Ape and its environs as worrisome, calling on the state government and security agencies to come to their aid by deploying the military to assist them in the community; they lamented that they could no longer sleep with their eyes closed.
However, efforts to speak with the Police Public Relations Office, Kogi command, Mr. Williams Ovye Aya, proved abortive as he did not reply to the message sent to him via WhatsApp and sms at the time of filing this report.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Kabba-Bunu local government, Barr. Zacchaeus Dare has promised to restore peace to the Odo Ape community.
In a statement signed by his media aide, Omofa John, the council chairman assured that all those behind the incessant killings in Odo Ape will not go unpunished.
The statement confirmed that the LG Chairman has swiftly deployed joint security operatives to the community.
The council chairman blamed the security situation on the influx of Fulani herders who passed through the back door into the local government with the connivance of some criminal traditional rulers.
He said the government is serious about bringing those aiding and abetting those Fulani herdsmen in troubled areas to book.
“Kogi state government has invested heavily in security matters in Kabba/Bunu LGA, and we would not relent until those criminal elements are fished out. Let me assure our good people of the Odoape community that they have nothing to fear and that calm and peace will be restored to those affected areas.
“I also urge the people to cooperate with the security operatives by giving them credible intelligence. We have deployed military, police, hunters, and local vigilantes to restore peace, and we assure our people that we will not relent until those criminal elements are removed from our environment.
“It is also vital that I use this occasion to inform our people that many of the issues we had are a result of the influx of Fulani herdsmen passing through the back door to the local government with some connivance of some criminal traditional rulers and that the government is serious in bringing those aiding and abetting those Fulani herdsmen in those areas to book.
“The persistent ugly situations are because of the criminal connivance of some traditional rulers who gave out land indiscriminately to total strangers whose origins are unknown.
