Kogi state House of Assembly has called on the State Government to intervene and arrest resurgence of high-level kidnapping and armed robbery on Lokoja-Obajana, Oshokoshoko-kabba and other roads in the state.
The House made the call in a resolution issued at plenary yesterday in Lokoja following the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance moved by the Speaker, Prince Matthew Kolawole.
The legislators urged the state government to further help equip the police with more high-tech communication and security gadgets to enhance crime detection and prevention in the state.
The motion was presented by Oluwatoyin Lawal (PDP-Yagba-West) on behalf of the Speaker, drawing the attention of the state government to the resurgence of criminal activities in the state.
Presenting the motion, Hon. Lawal said the speaker’s brother, wife and two others were abducted on Monday, at Oshokoshoko-Kabba road by unidentified hoodlums who appeared in Army and Police uniforms.
The motion appealed to security agencies, especially the police, to up their game in ensuring security of lives and property in the state, saying that more security personnel be deploy to flash points on the state.
Seconding the motion, Musa Jimoh Omiata (APC-Yagba-East) said sometimes ago, Kogi presented a home to armed robbers and kidnappers, stressing that the intervention of the state government, equipping the police and other security agencies, brought relative peace, making the state one of the most peaceful in the country.
However, Omiata regretted the resurgence of criminal activities in the state in the last two months, saying that Egbe-Isanlu and Obajana-Kabba roads had become robbers’ den again.
Also supporting the motion, Edoko Moses-Ododo recounted how only last week, at Ojodu on Itobe-Anyigba road, Ofu Local Government, armed robbers robbed and kidnapped motorists in broad day light.
Hassan Abdullahi, Deputy Speaker (APC-Dekina II) urged security agencies to wake up to their responsibility of securing lives and property and urged them to concentrate on major and lonely roads.
Speaker of the House, Prince Matthew Kolawole said the issue of kidnapping and armed robbery in the state had assumed an alarming proportion, saying that only five days ago, one Clement was attacked and he is still in the hospital for treatment of matchette cuts.
Ruling on the motion, Kolawole urged security agencies to map out strategies to contain the new crime wave and particularly address the Oshokoshoko axis where the rate of criminal activities has worsen by the presence of Dangote Cement Company, Obajana.
