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Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State
By Gabriel Agbonika, Lokoja
The Murtala Yakubu Ajaka Gubernatorial Campaign Organization has condemned in strong terms the official confirmation by the Kogi State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Akeem Yusuf , the extra judicial execution of an APC Chieftain, Mallam Kabir Okwo Bala and a housewife, Mrs Atima Abdullahi which was carried out Thursday by gunmen at Ejule in Ofu Local Government Area of Kogi State.
The gruesome murder of the two is alleged to have been masterminded by the State Government of Alhaji Yahaya Bello.
According to a statement released by Mr. Farouk Adejoh, spokesman for Alhaji Murtala Yakubu Ajaka Governorship Candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), expressed shock that a Governor and the Chief Security officer of a state could plot the cold blooded murder of citizens he had sworn to protect and defend on the altar of desperate politics.
He explained that the late Okwo was accused of several crimes by the state Commissioner of Police only after his execution yesterday.
In his words, “we totally reject the use of these allegations rightly or wrongly as an excuse to kill a citizen who could easily have been arrested and prosecuted over the years if indeed the state government ever considered him a criminal.”
He further said that as admitted by the Police Commissioner, “Okwo was freed from prison in 2018 by Governor Yahaya Bello on the grounds that he was not a criminal but a political prisoner jailed by the PDP”.
He emphasised that it is therefore curious that after the invasion of Ejule during which Okwo’s family house and several other properties were burnt down by state agents that suddenly he was suddenly declared a criminal.
Mr. Faruk said that the dead man, who is now declared a criminal by the State Commissioner of Police, was known to be a regular guest of Governor Bello’s Lokoja Government House where he was always treated as royalty.
He urged the Kogi State Government “to be gracious enough and account to the people of Kogi State and the world at large how a man previously declared innocent and granted state pardon by the same Governor Bello degenerated into such heinous criminal to the point of engaging in gun battles with the Nigerian Navy more than one year ago yet there was never any attempt to arrest and prosecute him.”
Kogi SDP governorship candidate, Alhaji Murtala Yakubu Muri Ajaka
According to Mr. Faruk, “we are indeed shocked that a Governor and the Chief Security officer of a state could plot the cold blooded murder of citizens he had sworn to protect and defend on the altar of desperate politics. We are aware that the late Okwo was accused of several felonies by the state commissioner of police after his execution but we totally reject the use of these allegations rightly or wrongly as excuse to kill a citizen who could easily have been arrested and prosecuted over the years if indeed the state government ever considered him a criminal.
“But it is worth pointing out that as admitted by Police Commissioner, Okwo was freed from prison in 2018 by Governor Yahaya Bello on the grounds that he was not a criminal but a political prisoner jailed by the PDP,” he said.
It is therefore curious that after the invasion of Ejule last night during which his was murdered in cold blood and his family house and several other properties were burnt down by state agents Okwo was suddenly declared a criminal.”
In the opinion of SDP Director of Communication, Kogi State Government should be gracious enough to account to the people and the world at large how a.man previously declared innocent and granted state pardon by the same Governor Bello degenerated into such heinous criminal to the point of engaging in gun battles with the Nigerian Navy more than one year ago yet there was never any attempt to arrest and prosecute him.”
Meanwhile, Mr Faruk argued that the commissioner of Police has said the deceased had to be appealed and pampered to release AK47 Rifles he allegedly seized from the Navy in a firefight about one year ago.
“Truth is that the plot for this extra-judicial Killing was hatched after the late Okwo openly renounced his support for Mr Yahaya Bello in a now viral video and declared he will not be supporting his candidate in the impending November 11, 2023 Governorship Elections. It was only after this declaration by the late Okwo that thugs believed to be acting at the pleasure of the Governor invaded Ejule about two weeks ago and burnt down his hotel and valuable properties.
The SDP governorship candidate’s spokesman maintained that the relationship between the Governor and Okwo first broke down during the Presidential Elections when he was led by Ajaka to support the election of President Bola Tinubu against the interest of Yahaya Bello who was reluctant as evident from the massive votes recorded in the Kogi East Senatorial District in Contrast to the Governor’s Central Senatorial District where the APC lost four of the five Local Governments.
He explained that few months ago another friend of the government one Shafiu who renounced support for Mr Bello and declared allegiance to the PDP Senatorial Candidate in the last election Mrs. Natasha Uduaghan was declared a terrorist and equally hunted down in Trademore Housing Estate, Lugbe, Abuja and only escaped death because the PDP cried out.
Similarly, in March this year supporters of Alhaji Ajaka including a retired Army Colonel and a lawyer were abducted by thugs of Bello enjoying the cover of compromised security personnel while traveling to Abuja and declared kidnappers and armed robbers.
Bello’s track record for framing persons who are either opposed to or renounced his politics of violence is indeed legendary. The list is inexhaustible.
Mr Faruk, therefore, totally condemned this desperation and bloodletting which has become the hall mark of Mr Bello’s politics in Kogi State and appeals to the Federal Government to rein in Governor Yahaya Bello to save the lives of citizens whose only crime is that they dare to exercise their democratic rights to reject him.
