Groups urge police to disarm Kogi youths as NUJ flays roadblocks

Two groups, Save Kogi Movement (SKM), and Idah Club 6575, have called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, to retrieve arms illegally possessed by youths in the state.

In separate appeals yesterday in Lokoja, they claimed that the just concluded general elections provided a fertile ground for unscrupulous politicians to recruit and arm the youths for selfish ends.

The groups regretted that with the polls over, the dangerous weapons were being deployed for kidnapping, robbery and other criminal activities.

SKM’s acting president, Commodore Daniel Folorunsho, stressed that the dangerous weapons needed to be retrieved to free the state from what he termed ‘siege’ owing to the prevalence of vices in parts of Kogi.

Describing security as all-encompassing and multifaceted, he stated that it was unfortunate that government was placing emphasis on physical security, abandoning other issues that form the whole mix.

In a petition to the state commissioner of police and signed by its president, Samuel Ogali, the Idah outfit pleaded with the force to do all within the ambit of the law to disarm the youths.

In a related development, the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Delta Council has raised the alarm over the return of roadblocks in the state.

In a statement by its chairman, Comrade Michael Ikeogwu and secretary, Comrade Churchill Oyowe, yesterday in Asaba, the union called on the commissioner of police to check the activities of his men before the situation degenerates into a crisis.

Condemning the ugly development, the council described the checkpoints as “instrument of extortion and harassment, as the practice has subjected Deltans and motorists to untold hardship, intimidation and unwarranted delays, and sometimes, unwarranted arrest.”

The document reads in part: “We cannot see why the police personnel under Delta command will flagrantly flout the order of the IGP pretending to be staging nipping points for routine checks whereas what we see on ground are full blown roadblocks for distorting smooth flow of traffic, intimidation, extortion and unwarranted arrests.”