 Kogi State government vows to apprehend and prosecute perpetrators of killings in Dekinai local government area. And the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mohamed Usunas Sanusi II, has said Nigeria has never been more divided since the Civil War of 1967 to 1970. This is Plus Politics. My name is Nyam Ghul Aghaji. Governor Yahya Bello of Kogi has vowed to bring the perpetrators behind attacks on the communities in Dekinai local government area of the state to justice. The governor gave the assurance when he led heads of security agencies in the state for an underscored assessment of the communities. The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Edward Onoja, described the attacks as barbaric, though not very frequent in Kogi state. As he said that the invaders stomped the communities' shootings periodically and burning hundreds of houses in the early morning raid. A chieftain of the all-progressive Congress, A.P.C. Ambe, or Ganegu word chairman James Adda, was among those killed in the attack. Many residents said to have fled the communities in the wake of their assault, even as it remains unclear what the reason behind their invasion was. Well, that visit by the deputy governor, Edward Onoja, to the communities will bring you that report now before I introduce my guest. Stay with us. 2018, we only passed through this place to a boundary community in Basa local government. It wasn't as if something happened here in 2018. It happened in a boundary community, but you have to pass through here to get there. And his excellency came down here by himself. And for four years or five years, from 2018 to now, it's five years. There has not been any of such incidents. And this just happened. And as we speak, the military are fully on ground. From the very day that the incident happened, they even forestalled more casualty and more deaths. They've been on ground since then, and they remain on ground. And just like the Commissioner of Police confirmed to you, more deployments by the mobile police and the terrorist squad would also be on ground. That was Mr. Edward Onoja, the deputy governor of Kogi State, talking to us about the unfortunate incident and what has been done so far. We're joined right now by Kingsley Farnwell, the honorable commissioner for information in Kogi State. Thank you so much, sir, for joining us. Thank you very much, sir, for having me, and good evening to you as I'm on the walk. Okay. Well, there is that vow that perpetrators will be brought to book. We'd like to know the situation right now in Kogi State. How far so far? It's a very sad one. I was on the entourage of the deputy governor to Oganenugui in the Kina local government area of the state. And what we saw there was not a good one at all. But, you know, as the government, the primary responsibility of government, especially under the current administration in the state is to ensure security of lives and property. We've been there on the instruction of the governor led by the deputy governor of the state, the state security advisor, all the security chiefs, where all they are yesterday to see, to have a firsthand knowledge of what happened and also work in synergy to ensure that future occurrence is abated. We know that we would get the perpetrators. We are never in doubt about that. Kogi security architecture is such that when you breach it, you don't go unpunished because it is a very robust security architecture. And when you have, when you breach it like those people did and killed a few of our citizens, even if you kill one Kogi, the governor will go after you and ensure that you are brought to justice. We know that the security agencies in collaboration with the state government officials are gathering a lot of intelligence. And they are making progress. They will be apprehended according to what the governor said. He's not just saying those words in vain. He knows he understands his own security architecture that we will apprehend them and bring them to justice. Just really debilitating a full community or full communities, hundreds of houses as the report goes and people who have been killed and all that. And we are wondering what is the motive behind this? Has any wind been had regarding what the motive is and who the possible suspects could be? Thank you very much. You know, the community people felt some people, I will not mention them, some people orchestrated the violence and the may mean of their people. But, you know, we are going to follow the investigations very closely. We know that there are already clues, but we are leaving that to security operatives who are experts in dealing with those pieces of information and ensuring that they are processed into unraveling the mystery behind the Dastardly Act. So we will leave that to them. You know, the motive, we will also leave that to them. But I want to assure you that we already have clues. We already have clues. We already have information. And we are going to ensure that the security agencies process this information and the perpetrators are apprehended and brought to book. You know, what we saw there yesterday was mind blowing. Houses were bombed. Properties belong to the people of the communities, not just Organa Ilungwe Ilungwe and some other communities were also attacked. And their houses were bombed. Properties worth millions of Naira were also bombed. So it's something that we will not, we will not allow it to just slide like that. As a government, we will ensure that we deal with this holistically and ensure that anyone planning such in future, we know that they will go the way of others. Like the governor will say, if they come in their thousands, they will go back in their zeros. So we are ready on their trail and we are very sure that they will be apprehended. Apart from visit to the place, there was also a stakeholder meeting at the Palace of the Ataigala, who is also the president of the Kogisti Traditional Council. We are all the stakeholders. Mietiala leaders, community leaders, local government, Chiamen, officials of the state government have a very, very fruitful meeting that has also given us a lot of clues and the meeting was very helpful. And we know that apart from giving us the clues to be able to trail and apprehend the perpetrators of the act, it will also guide us in ensuring that we have that possible feature. Okay. We were all glad when we saw that Kogisti governor has been doing a lot of proactive, taking a lot of proactive measures to make sure that the security is intact in Kogisti. And like the deputy governor said, the last time government official passed there was five years ago when a community at the border was attacked. And right now this is happening. Just before the elections, we saw that even a road leading to a community was excavated to prevent these bandits from entering some communities to go and cause havoc and all that. And then we get worried that this thing is happening at the twilight of this administration, which has been so, so proactive when it comes to security matters. Does it mean there has been a shake in the security architecture? Does it mean there has been a problem that has given room for these people to come and operate in their numbers in a community within Kogi that prides itself of being very security conscious? Even in the best societies in the world, you have the breaches of security. As we already told you, something like that happened at a neighboring community five years ago. We are having a repeat now. And what we need to do is to recalibrate our security architecture as a state and make it more robust. Because even the criminals, they are also going into research on how they will beat the security architecture of how they will beat the trap and be able to foment their criminal minded plans. But that's not going to be tells from raising the bar. What we need to do as a government, which is also our responsibility and also why the Arisa government is to raise the bar and ensure that they cannot catch up. With our plans and our security architecture, we will continue to do this as you are aware Kogi remains one of the safest states in the country. It is not just about how we have that some of these things in many of our local government areas and many of our communities, but also how we respond to these issues. Immediately this happened a few days ago. The governor mobilized and rallied all the security agencies to be powerfully present in those communities. And immediately that was witnessed. Even the second wave of attack that was to be launched was aborted by the combined military and other non-military forces that are there. So it shows that we are able to avoid that and we are able to save many lives that would have been lost to the second wave of attack by the criminals. So as a government, we know our responsibility is to secure the people and the governor has never shied away from this. He has invested billions of naira to ensure that we have the best of technology and the best of weapons to be able to fight crime. And we will continue to do that. How would you assess the level of response from the security agencies? Because some people complain. For instance, if I take Elder Leke Begidi, a frontline governorship aspirant under African Democratic Congress, who said that the response of the security agencies was very slow. That a lot of things could have been averted if they had come earlier and all that. Is that really the picture that we see from what happened in Kogi State or was there a different thing that we need to hear about? He said the security agencies did not respond as quickly as they should have. Thank you very much. I'm very sure Elder Leke Begidi doesn't have more information about this than us. And what he has been able to do is to play politics with the blood of the people. I think a time like this requires all of us coming together, bonding together to fight the criminals. Whether you belong to APC, PDP or ADC does not matter. What matters is all of us as a people, all of us as Kogi people come together to fight this criminality. Know that we will be trying to score cheap political points when we have this kind of bloodshed and the whole state is mourning. I think our policy chance would be a bit circumspect and not throw everything into politics. I want to comment on behalf of the state government, the promptness of the security agencies. I just told you they were able to move in swiftly within hours and that's very organic with a very difficult terrain. So for the military and the police and the DSS to be able to access that place so easily and so fast shows the commitment of the security agencies in Kogi state. When we talk about the success story of security in Kogi state, we are simply telling you how we have been able to work closely together with the security agencies to ensure security of our people. So this is not about politics. Politicians should come together. We are talking of the blood of fellow human beings here. They should not play politics with it. Both the military, the police, the civil defense, the DSS, all of them reacted promptly to a vat for the bloodletting. So we want to commend them. Okay, that was going to be my second question, but I'll just go ahead and ask you still to expatiate on what you just said about collaborating with the security agencies. Because if Kogi is this proactive and things get to be done the way they are done, we're wondering what you do differently from other states, for instance, that gives you this opportunity to fight crime and to be so security conscious in your state. What do you do differently? Because security is exclusively for the federal government. So what is it that you do as a state that makes it seamless for you to fight crime in your state? Our security conscious governor recognized very early that you don't win the fight against criminality and violence just with a kinetic approach alone. So we have been able to deploy the non-kinetic approach, such as ensuring that youth in the state are well engaged. You know, many of the youth that are involved in crime are doing that because they don't have means of livelihood. So they are lured into crime, into killing other people to get some blood money. But in Kogi state, we have been able to engage our youths in very productive ventures, and that has taken a good number of them away from crime. Apart from that, we have been able to introduce technology into our crime war in the state. And that has helped us tremendously. And that's why even when you have flashes of kidnapping, it's always very easy to locate, to geolocate where they are, track them down and be able to rescue our people alive without paying ransom. So that's one of the approach that we have been able to use. So apart from that, there is this collaborative approach. You cannot always fight with force all of the time. You engage dialogue. You interrogate some of these issues. You come round the table to discuss with all the stakeholders. And when you are able to do that, it makes security a lot seamless. In our rural communities in Kogi state, Fulani Headsmen and their leaders are part of some of the things that we do in our rural communities. They are invited to be briefed about security approaches and there is collaboration. So it is very difficult to track criminals when criminals intrude their ranks. And that is helping us. A lot of sensitization too. If you enter any village in Kogi state within two minutes, it will be reported to the relevant authorities of government and security agencies. These are some of the things that we have done so we cannot harbor anywhere. Like this attack, as we are made to know, pending the final release of investigations, those people came from another state infiltrated the place in the alias of the day to be able to launch the attack. So we are going to put all of these into recalibrating our security architecture and making it a lot better. So Kogi is far ahead when it comes to security architecture among the states in Nigeria. Okay. Do we have some kind of time element? Do we have some kind of time frame? When matching orders were given that all the security agencies should make sure that these people are presented? What time frame are we looking at to get results? A lot of things is going to happen between now and the realization of that matching order. We are very confident that in a couple of days, weeks, many of them will be apprehended. They've done this before in the state. Even when there was jailbreak in Kogi, it was different. The way the government and the security agencies responded to that, we're able to bring a lot of them back, apprehend a lot of the perpetrators and they have been able to face justice. So I would like to show the people that they should become. The government is working with security agencies to guarantee their security. Apart from that, I saw hope on the faces of the people of Oganane and Lugu when we got there yesterday. I remember that as we entered the community, some people were already putting their mattresses at the back of their motorcycles. But as soon as they saw a government presence, they came back. That's what we do in Kogi State. We do not run away from the back to front. We have a governor who leads from the front and that gives a lot of confidence to the people. I want to assure you, I don't want to give out too much information about this, but I want to assure you that in a couple of days, weeks, they will be apprehended. Okay, in spite of your best efforts, let me comment to you that you have done well, the government of Kogi, and we are hoping that we are going to have these results. But some people are still saying that it might have some political undertone. And even though you say we may not have the motive now and you don't want to divulge that, people have also accused the APC in the state, the ruling party in the state, as being very insensitive because they are going about campaigning even when the state is literally bleeding. So what is your response to this? I know that the campaign or the primaries for the election which is coming up in November was slated for March and April to end in April 17 or there about. And so people are campaigning. But some other people said they expected that the ruling party will halt those campaigns for the state tomorrow, as it were. But you have continued in your campaigns even as the blood of the people flow. I'd like a response to that, please. I want to correct the impression very quickly that there is no campaign right now. We are preparing for primaries. You have candidates most imagine before you can now start campaigning. The candidates of the political parties have not imagined yet, except only parties where you have one man show that there is no competition, no democratic antecedents and all of that. But in the APC and many of the big political parties, apart from the mushroom parties, candidates have not imagined yet. So the question of campaign does not even arise at all. Nobody is campaigning. We are mourning as a state. For the governor to deploy the number two citizen of the state and all the state government apparatus, the local government apparatus, all the security agencies to those places, but this time yesterday, I was still with the deputy governor in Kogi East. So you understand what that means. So we are not campaigning. We cannot even campaign when we lose more than two or three of our citizens to circumstances that are very unfortunate. So that allegation is ludicrous, laughable and very insensitive. It's like a macabre dance on the grave of those who lost their lives and we should discourage that as much as possible. So for the purpose of enlightenment, let me say that there are no campaigns in Kogi State right now. Candidates will emerge. Then through INEC timetable, you can easily verify when campaigns will start. So this is not politics. It has to do with the security of the party. Okay. Thank you for clarifying that because whatever happens and we get the information from whatever quarters will give you the chance to respond to that. But a government is coming. May 29, we're hoping that a new government is coming, federal government now. And security is one of the very, very turning issues that everybody is hoping will be addressed by the next government. What are the key pointers knowing how successful Kogi has been in this security matter as you say? What are some of the pointers that you think the next government should be considering to bring about this much needed security in our country? Thank you very much. The good story here is that there's a very robust relationship between the president-elect, Ashwajibullah Mehti Nubu, and Arstit Gavno, Gavno Yahya Bello. Even the security hierarchy, they understand the place of Alhadi Yahya Bello in the security of Kogi State and they're not centra as a whole because of his commitment, because of his dynamism, because of his bloody-minded approach to ensuring that no chances are not taken in ensuring the security of the people. So I expect a lot of handshake, a lot of notes comparison between the president-elect and the governor to ensure that what has been achieved in Kogi State is replicated across the nation. It is one of the campaign points of the APC in the run-up to the 2023 presidential election. So it is expected that we are going to put that on the front boner and ensure that our people across the country are safe. It is the responsibility, it is going to be the responsibility of the president-elect from May 29 to ensure that the Nigerians are safe. When you look at Bola Mehti Nubu from his success story in Lagos, you would understand that he's one of the people who can identify competent people with capacity to deliver. He has done that in Lagos, he has produced some of the best leaders this nation has witnessed. So we expect that it's going to assemble a team, it's going to assemble a team, the security team of the nation will be proactive. That team will be able to put an end to insolvency and terrorism. And we are very confident that as far as we know, Bola Mehti Nubu will secure Nigeria. I can give that guarantee. Well, the same bet at hand is worth more than a million in the bush. We have seen Kogi and Kogi is succeeding as you are giving us the report now. We also heard those kind of things before 2019 and even 2015 about security and we didn't get to see much, even though it has been said that a lot has been done regarding security, even though we don't see it as much as that. But the ones we already know in Kogi's state, whether it is actually Bola Mehti Nubu that is coming or not, Nigerians should have these pointers at their fingertips. What are some of the strongest ones from the Kogi story, as it were, that you would put out there for whoever is going to come in, whether as a governor or as a president, to consider so that we will start seeing the security of our country from day to day. The positive is that there must be sincerity on the parts of the leadership of the nation or the state of the local government to ensure security. When the people see that sincerity of purpose, when they see commitment of the leader, what's working in Kogi is that you have a leader that is out there leading from the front, he's not hiding behind, he's leading. Five years ago, he went through rivers, he trekked many kilometers around that place that this attack just happened to be able to give confidence to the people, to be able to strongly deterring himself. That's what leaders should do. Before you can be a successful leader, you must circulate. According to the former American president, Abraham Lincoln, you need to circulate. You need to be able to see things yourself. You need to be able to monitor and supervise things yourself. You need to show commitment. You need to show sincerity. You need to show that you are not going to play ethnicity, religious cards when it comes to politics. You must attack it frontally. You must have the confidence that that's the success story in Kogi State. They see sincerity in their leader. He doesn't play politics with it. He doesn't play religious card with it. He doesn't play ethnicity with it. When the governor came in 2016, the most volatile part of the state was Kogi Central, where we have some cells of even international terrorist organizations. But he attacked it frontally. He didn't say, oh, I'm from Kogi Central, so I have to treat it with kid gloves. He talked about the militias that Nigeria needs. And that is the kind of leader that Ebola made to noble is. He's going to confront insecurity frontally. He's going to work with people who have made success stories in their states to be able to achieve that at a national level. So we have confidence from May 29 that a lot will be done to ensure security of life's and property in Nigeria. Yahya Bilu was very sincere in Kogi State. He was leading from the front. He was investing billions in it, in it, but not just putting the money and not supervising it. No, he ensured that you have patrol vans, you have gadgets that will help to track kidnappers and criminals and all that. So we have been able to achieve this. So if we can achieve this in Kogi State, in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious state like Kogi State, why has it been so difficult for you know the story to be replicated at the national level. So you need that kind of the spirit of Al-Haji Yahya Belu to be able to replicate that at the national level. And his political mentor is Bola Metinobu. I had him say many times that the governor of Kogi State, when he looks at the governor of Kogi State, remembers when he was younger that he has a lot of attributes that he loves, including courage, boldness and the readiness to take actions. You know, you need to take certain decisions whether they are palatable or not, whether they are comfortable for you or not. What is most important is to get result. And that is what our governor has been able to do in Kogi State. And that is what we believe that Bola Metinobu will replicate at the national stage, on the national stage from May 29. All of us hope so. This is our country and would like it to be very secure for all of us to be in it. And let's just digress in closing now as we wrap up with you. Though we may not just talk strictly about security, I'd like to know if Yahya Belu leaves now because there's going to be an election in November and he will leave a few weeks or a few months after that. So what will be, in your opinion, the greatest legacies that he's going to leave as a governor who came, who saw and possibly conquered Kogi? The one thing that Huber remembered for is security. He has been able to secure the state. He has been able to respond when there is a breach of peace. He has been able to respond promptly. He has been able to lead from the phone. And that's very important for the people of the state. Apart from that, you would want to remember that the person who addressed the health challenges of the state, when he came on board, even the specialist hospital, which was the biggest owned by the state governments, was in Shambu. And it was like a glorified village clinic. But today he has not only turned that to an international health institution. He has also built a brand new reference hospital in Okene, where you have some facilities that are debuting for the first time in Africa. From information reaching my office, they've started operations today, and it shows that people who need hyperbaric chamber, we have to come to Okene instead of going to Eastern Europe or Western Europe. They have to come to Kogi state. So we can redress that when we show sincerity. And we'll be remembered for that. That is not just in Okene. We have the specialist hospital in Lokoja has been completely turned to, you know, an international medical institution. And apart from the one he built in Okene, there is one in Isolu in the western sanitary district, another one at Gegu in the western sanitary district. We have others in the eastern sanitary district and also in the central sanitary district. So he has been able to show that when the leader is committed to his people, one of the things you need to do is to ensure well-being. When you seek care of the people, that is not enough. You must ensure that they have the best of healthcare facilities, and he has been able to provide that. He also remembered for his contribution to education. Apart from building world-class educational institutions and improving on the institutions that he made on ground, he has also ensured that we have a piece, academic piece in our high institutions. While others go on strike, our high institutions are always working. The issue of a strike does not happen in our institutions. So when you enter either the Kogi State University or the Confluence University of Science and Technology or the Kogi Polytechnic or our high institutions, you know that you are going to finish in record time. So these are some of the legacy that you've remembered for. And that is why already by far, in clear lead, there remains the best to a Fappon II Kogi State. Okay, thank you so much for that. We do hope that that energy will be sustained until these perpetrators of the Bastardly Act are caught, Dastardly Act, rather, are caught and prosecuted. We're waiting for that information. And we wish you well in all the things that you're doing in Kogi. Thank you so much, Honorable Kingsley Farnwell, for coming on the show. Thank you very much for having me. Okay, we've been talking with Honorable Kingsley Farnwell, Commissioner for Information, Kogi State. And we've been talking about the unfortunate event that happened in Kogi State. And right now, we're going to take a quick break when we return. We'll be discussing the statement of a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mohamadu Sanusi, the second on the state of the nation. Stay with us.