Herdsmen Carnage: CSO Carpets Gov Bello Over ‘Stand-offish Attitude’ Towards Kogi Community

The Centre for Leadership Legacy Int’l has condemned in strong terms what it described as lackadaisical attitude of Governor Yahaya Bello-led Kogi State government, authorities of Dekina local government and traditional institutions towards the ongoing herdsmen attack on Oganenigu community in Dekina local government area (LGA) of the State.

Oganenigu community comprising over 13 villages was under siege since Wednesday, March 29, 2023 with villagers abandoning their homes and disappearing to the neighbouring communities for their life.

According to a statement signed by the lead director of the Centre, Comrade Omonu Gowon-Nelson, the latest round of attacks started when Odede village was razed to the ground in the early hours of Wednesday, March 29, 2023.

The statement expressed displeasure on what it called stand-offish disposition of Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, who is the Chief Security Officer of the State, of which Oganenigu community is a part.

“This is a matter relevant authorities in the state and Dekina local government are familiar with, and why it’s taking so long for the governor to act calls for worry among the people,” Gowon-Nelson stated.

However, when contacted, the Kogi State government denied having any knowledge of the attack, saying the issue of herdsmen/farmers and communal clashes could be spontaneous.

The State’s Commissioner of Information, Mr Kingsley Fanwo, who spoke to LEADERSHIP on phone, said since the attack has not been properly reported to the security agencies, it will be unfair for anybody to say the state governor was not doing anything about it.

“Have they reported to the DPO in Dekina local government area, have it been captioned in the state and what have been the efforts of the security agencies because you need to escalate it before the government can take certain step about it.

“The first contact in this kind of thing is the security agencies. The issues of herdsmen/farmers clash or even communal clash is sometime spontaneous, at time you put in place mentions to stop it and you might able to stop it. So, you device mechanism to curtain it and it is unfair to the governor for anybody to say the state government is not doing anything about it,” Fanwo said.

However, while reminding Governor Bello and other concerned authorities that the primary purpose of any responsible government is the security of lives and property, Comrade Gowon-Nelso called for urgent intervention to bring the people’s misery to an end, even as he made case for the location of a military or Mobile Police formation in the area to forestall further occurrences.

Oganenigu Community, consisting 13 fairly large villages with Aloko as the Ward headquarters has been under recurrent attacks by suspected dare-devil herdsmen since 2015. It’s located about 22 kilometers from River Benue and 47 kilometers from Dekina, the local government headquarters.