...Says Kogi State Governor Bello Gave Open Cheque To Herdsmen To Kill Indigenes
By Baron Ike
Senator Dino Melaye, one of the senators representing Kogi State at the Senate has challenged President Muhammdu Buhari and the security agencies in Nigeria to demonstrate enough capacity to protect the lives and property of citizens in line with the oath of office they took.
Melaye was speaking on the floor of the Senate on Friday where he said that the the government has lost the battle to protect Nigerians, particularly the vulnerable poor, insisting that if nothing was done urgently, they would revolt against the government.
Melaye also said that his state, Kogi has come under attack by Fulani herdsmen because Governor Yahaya Bello openly canvased for the herdsmen coming to the state to graze openly, a situation he said is now turning against the people.
The senator regretted the brazing killings of Kogi indigenes by the herdsmen without Bello showing commensurate interest in what they are doing, saying that because the herdsmen have shown capacity for criminality the government at the centre and at the states must rise to deal with them as one.
Melaye further urged the federal and state governments and their security agencies to defend the tax payers money which they are spending yet without protecting them against attacks from their common foes.
Melaye spoke on a day the Kogi State government urged the people of Kogi State to ignore the figure of persons killed by the herdsmen describing them as “conflicting casualty and other figures thrown about by different individuals, organisations and sections of the press as they are mostly baseless and speculative.”
Kingsley Fanwo, Director-General, Media and Publicity, Office of the Governor Kogi State said in a statement that Bello will conduct on the spot assessment of the distressed communities on Friday.
Fanwo added: “He will meet with Security Chiefs and community leaders after which more information will be forthcoming based on available facts. The Governor believes nothing compares to the sanctity of the human life and that must be protected by all who believes in humanity.
“On 14th March, 2018 at about 05:00 
hrs, an attack was carried out on Ogane-Nigu and nearby communities in the Eastern Senatorial Zone of Kogi State by armed bandits suspected to be herdsmen.
“The Kogi State Government ensured that the military, the police and other relevant security agencies, including members of the Kogi State Vigilante Services were immediately mobilised to the affected areas following the initial reports.
“The violence has since been contained and brought under control. The incident however remains under investigation while efforts are ongoing to apprehend the attackers and bring them to justice.”