By Augustine Ehikioya
Some officers of the Kogi State Vigilante Group have killed 11 bandits of a group that has been terrorizing some parts of Koton Karfe Local Government Area of the State.
While they also successfully rescued three kidnapped victims from the bandits, the Vigilante group arrested other members of the notorious bandit group.
Security Watch Africa (SWA) also gathered on Sunday that security operatives while acting on intelligence were said to have nabbed an Officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps(NSCDC), Inspector Abdullahi Saidu, who, alongside a friend, has reportedly been supplying the criminals with weapons and information to undertake their heinous crimes.
It was also confirmed that five of the kidnappers arrested, including the Civil Defence operative, were in the custody of the Department of State Security for further investigations.
The successful operation by the security operatives was said to have been carried out in series based on credible intelligence.
An anonymous source within the Kogi State Vigilante Service said ”Alaidi is their ring leader. He was killed during the first camp attack. Rabo and seven others were crushed. Madei and one other were killed in the second kidnappers’ camp while Umar escaped with gunshot injuries but was recaptured.”
Reacting to the latest development,, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Muhammed Onogwu, said such security success by the operatives was a welcome development and a proof that the security architecture of Kogi State was strong and solid enough to quash all forms of criminal vices.
According to him, the Local Vigilantes across the State had continued to record good results because of the morale boost and support the Governor had continued to give as well as the cooperation from the citizens and synergy between the security operatives.
The continued efforts of the Kogi State Government to keep the momentum as the safest State in the Country, he said, were so far yielding remarkable results, noting that “the Governor had severally made a commitment to securing the lives and property of the citizens and make the State a no go zone for criminal elements.”
He said that Governments at all levels would continue to make efforts towards sustaining the drive for a peaceful Kogi State by making every nook and cranny of the State unsafe for criminal elements and their sponsors.
It was also gathered that security agencies are on the trail of kidnappers who were reported to have carried out attack on certain individuals in Kabba.
The State Government said it was in touch with security agencies and that the Governor already gave a marching order that “those kidnapped must be rescued and the perpetrators apprehended.”
Another source within the Kogi State Security circles, who spoke on a condition of anonymity, said they were getting “encouraging headway” in their operations against the kidnappers.
