Ahead of November 11 governorship election in Kogi State, Governor Yahaya Bello has vowed to do everything lawful to guarantee peaceful, free, fair and credible polls.
Bello also reiterated government’s endorsement of the recent joint operation carried out by security agencies in the state, in which a notorious gang leader was neutralised, saying that the operation has reduced crime in Kogi east by over 40 per cent.
The governor who spoke through his Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kingsley Fanwo, gave the assurance at the quarterly press briefing of the ministry on Monday in Lokoja.
The governor stressed that no amount of blackmail by desperate enemies of the state would stop the government from protecting lives and property of Kogites and cooperating totally with law enforcement agencies to rid the state of crime.
He said the Kogi State Government would not submit its authority to criminals, while calling on security agencies to invite those tagging the operation an extrajudicial killing and inciting violence for thorough investigation.
“They must be held to account for their claims,” he stressed.”We can’t come this far taming terrorists for the past 90 months only to lose it to the garrulous crime-sponsors defending a criminal,” the governor emphasised.
“Government would do everything within the curve of law to guarantee a peaceful poll in November, warning that intimidation, ethnic/ religious profiling and other anti-social and unconstitutional acts would be met with stiff resistance.
“It is our responsibility to give confidence to our people that they are free from attacks while exercising their franchise,” he noted.
“The late Kabir Bala popularly known as Okwo was a terror in the East, kidnapping and raping young women and housewives and terrorising the entire Kogi East.
“Motorists traversing the state were subjected to ‘Okwo levy’ to the embarrassment of the state, among other acts of extreme intimidation and criminality.
“Kabir Bala opened fire on security operatives with the intent to murder them. According to the report by the security agencies, they engaged his gang at this point and he was neutralised in the process.
“The question you need to ask the SDP fans of the late Kabir Bala is: What is their interest in the criminal enterprise of the late crime-lord? Was there a pact between them and the late notorious leader to assassinate members of other parties?” he asked.
