The Kogi State Government has accused politicians of being responsible for some security breaches in the state, including the recent attack at the Kabba Correctional Centre.
Kingsley Fanwo, the state commissioner for information, stated this on Friday, September 17, 2021, while briefing journalists in Lagos on the security situation in the state.
Fanwo said that Gov. Yaya Bello of Kogi had put in place security architectures to ensure the safety of the people, stressing that some politicians were trying to thwart such plans.
He pointed out that before the administration of Gov. Bello, the state was known as the headquarters of kidnappers and armed robbers, as security agencies in the state then were without patrol vehicles for their operations.
The commissioner said that about 240 patrol vehicles and security gadgets were procured and distributed to all security agencies in the state, making the state safer in recent times.
Fanwo said the governor activated the Kogi vigilante group, constabulary, security whistleblowers, local hunters group as part of measures to keep the people safe in all parts of the state.
The commissioner said the state government refused to tag any ethnic group as criminals, noting that every group was carried along as part of the security architectures in Kogi.
“It may interest you to know that when the Correctional Centre at Kabba was attacked, the Fulani security group arrested some of the escaping inmates and called the security agents to pick them,” he said.
On the attack of the Correctional Centre at Kabba, Fanwo said about 126 inmates were brought back to the centre, calling on the Federal Government to strengthen the security agencies in the state with a view to avoiding similar occurrences in future.
He said particular security attention should be given to correctional centres where Boko Haram and other harden criminals were kept.
