ATABOR JULIUS
Insurgency in different nomenclatures,- Bokoharam, Iswap, Bandits, Fulani herdsmen’ kidnappers, have collectively and separately wrecked havoc on the people and Nigeria state since the turn of Civil rule in 1999.
The successive Governments both at National and subnational levels have adopted various measures to eradicate the menace without outlandish success.
The insecurity which spiralled with Bokoharam was initially targeted at the North Eastern States of Borno , Yobe , Adamawa and Taraba before dovetail to other parts of the country.
Attempt by Governments to confront the hydra headed monster headlong , often resulted into unmitigated catastrophe on both soft and hard targets.
In the wake of its apogee, over 300 students of Chibok Girls Science secondary school were abducted and twelve years down the line not fewer than 90 of the victims are still in the outlawed den. Those who managed to be rescued after several years in the forest came with huge tales of psychological and emotional burdens.
The same treatment was meted to the Dapchi school girls, in Yobe state, although, they were rescued months after , one of the unlucky girls, Leah Sharibu has been with the unfriendly parents in the last nine years, without hope of being reunited with her parents.
From the North East to North West , the reported Abduction of School children by Bokoharam and her evil cousins of Bandits and kidnappers for money ransom were and are commonplace.
Not forgotten the Greenfield College students in Kaduna, the kidnap of Prospective Youth corps members from Akwa Ibom state on their way to Sokoto, for National Youth Service were abducted in Zamfara state and over Eight months, four of them are yet to be accounted for as more incidents occured in Universities in Jigawa , Katsina Yobe and Cross River states to mention a few
The scenerio in all these attacks which are targeted at institutions of higher learning, often received lethargic approach by the state, although, military and other security agencies have been drafted , their efforts is yet to receive desired outcomes.
The common denominator has been and it is, tales of woes for the victims and their loved ones.
However, hope is not lost in all of these , that, if, there is a political will, there is possibility in all situations, which Governor Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo comes handy.
Kogi has to taste its bitter pills of the demonic personalities garbed in human beings, who thought as usual, would get away with their actions, attacked the fledging Confluence University of Science and Technology Osara, Kogi state on the 9th of May, 2024 and abducted 31 students.
To their chagrin, Governor Ododo was at his best. He cut short his assignments in Abuja, and raced to the scene. He assured parents and survivors, that the state has a new sheriff in town and promised to rescue all the students unhurt.
The people believed him with mixed feelings, thinking that his words were a political gimmick to douse tension.
The Governor, while speaking through his Commissioner for information and Communication, Kingsley Fanwo said , immediately Governor, Ahmed Usman Ododo received the report , he activated the security architecture to track the kidnappers and ensure the abducted students were rescued and the abductors apprehended.
He assured that hundreds of local hunters who understand the terrain as well as the conventional security agents are currently combing the area to ensure safe rescue of the abducted students who were kidnapped in their classrooms.
According to him “We wish to assure students, parents and the entire people of Kogi State that the Government is on top of the situation and all the abducted students will be rescued alive.
Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo has also directed that security agents be positioned around all tertiary institutions in the State.
“We wish to commend the local hunters and other security agents who rose stoutly to engage the kidnappers. Their gallantry and dedication ensured that the kidnappers did not have a field day which would have been more calamitous.
The State Government will spare nothing in ensuring that all the students abducted are safely rescued and reunited with their families. We won’t submit to terror. We shall prevail.’ He vowed.
And true to his words, he mobilised enormous resources, rejig the security architecture of the state and in synergy with federal Government and governments of contiguous states , swung into decisive action and less than three weeks all the 31 students abducted were rescued except two who were not too lucky to be reunited alive with their parents and loved ones, but their bodies recovered and given befitting burial.
While presenting the remaining Eight students rescued to Present Ahmed Bola Tinubu, the Governor has this to say. ” I commend, President Tinubu, the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the leadership of the Nigerian Army, the Police, Department of State Services, the Civil Defense and the local vigilante Service as well as local hunters for the successful operation that led to the safe return of the abducted CUSTECH students.
I praise the effort of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State for his unflinching support and synergy in the joint efforts to wipe out criminals from border communities between Kogi and Kwara states which have become hideouts for criminals in recent months.
” Most importantly, I expressed my sympathy for the families of two of the abducted students who died in the hands of the abductors, and i promised to do everything within my powers to keep Kogi state unsafe for criminals.”
However, some officers of the security agencies who were involved in the rescue operations, who don’t want their names in print , were full of adulation for the governor, for his commitment to the operation.
They noted that both moral and material support for the operation was unimaginable which, prompted officers to stop at nothing to laydown their lives until the last abducted student is rescued. ” We spent 19 days in the forest , but , the encouragement and support in all ramifications, was a tonic, that erase whatever challenges we had encountered. We commend him and urge other governors to emulate him to end insecurity in the country’.
