A group of bandits terrorising some parts of Koton Karfe Local Government Area (LGA) of Kogi State have met their Waterloo as officers of the State Vigilante Group killed 11 of them and arrested others.
Three kidnapped victims were also rescued successfully.
Security operatives acting on intelligence were said to have nabbed an officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Inspector Abdullahi Saidu, who, alongside a friend, reportedly supplied the criminals with weapons and information to undertake their heinous crimes.
The successful operation by the security operatives was carried out in series working with credible intelligence.
A source within the Kogi State Vigilante Service said, ”Alaidi is their ring leader. He was killed during the first camp attack. Rabo and seven others were crushed. Madei and one other were killed in the second kidnappers’ camp, while Umar escaped with gunshot injuries but was recaptured.”
It was also confirmed that five of the kidnappers arrested, including the civil defence operatives, were in the custody of the Department of State Security (DSS) for further investigations.
Reacting, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Muhammed Onogwu, noted that such security success by the operatives was a welcome development and a proof that the security architecture of Kogi State was strong and solid enough to quash all forms of criminal vices.
He opined that the local vigilantes across the state had continued to record good results because of the morale boost and support the governor had continued to give, as well as the cooperation from the citizens and synergy between the security operatives.
Onogwu noted that the continued efforts of the Kogi State Government to keep the momentum as the safest state in the country were, so far, yielding remarkable results, noting that the governor had severally made a commitment to securing the lives and property of the citizens and make the state a no go zone for criminal elements.
He reiterated that governments at all levels would continue to make efforts towards sustaining the drive for a peaceful Kogi state, by making every nook and cranny of the state unsafe for criminal elements and their sponsors.
In the same vein, security agencies are on the trail of kidnappers who were reported to have carried out attacks on certain individuals in Kabba.
The State government said it was in touch with security agencies and that the governor already gave a marching order that those kidnapped must be rescued and the perpetrators apprehended.
A source within the Kogi state security circles, who doesn’t want his name in print, said they were getting “encouraging headway” in their operations against the kidnappers.