Nothing should happen to our deputy governor – Kogi youths tell Buhari

The friction between the governor of Kogi, Yahaya Bello, and his deputy, Elder Simon Achuba, has taken a new dimension as the youths in the state have cried to President Muhammadu Buhari to protect the latter.

The Kogi youths also called on the nation’s security agencies to ensure the deputy governor’s safety following an allegation that his life was being threatened.

Vanguard reports that the governor had denied the allegation by his deputy, but the forum of youths said the claim by Achuba was too weighty and should not be handled lightly.

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In a statement by Richard Adejo and Jimoh Isa, president and secretary, respectively, the youths called on security operatives to tackle the issue of political insecurity that had ravaged the state in recent time. “The recent reports of intimidation and unnecessary harassment of the sitting deputy governor of Kogi state, Elder Simeon Achuba, is seen as an affront to the entire people of Kogi east, west and central. We hereby condemned the actions in totality.

“We, therefore, call on the president and other stakeholders in the country and Kogi state to take good notes of the threat and intimidation by the Kogi state government, especially the governor of the state and his chief of staff, Mr Edward Onoja against the sitting deputy governor of the state,” the forum said.

According to them, the security agencies must tame the political insecurity in the state so that the governorship election scheduled for November 16, would be successful. “The assurances that the November 2019 governorship election in the state will be free, fair and credible is doubtful as the deputy governor had revealed that the state will be under threat as a result of the reported importation of illegal arms into the state.

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“It has been revealed that the imported arms have been handed over to one of the notorious and deadly political thugs,” the statement said adding that these set of people have allegedly resorted to the use of arms to achieve the aspirations of their principal ahead of the elections.

Earlier, Ekohotblog reported that Achuba on Thursday, August 1, cried out that his life was under threat. The embattled deputy governor in an interview with pressmen at his official residence in Lokoja alleged his principal, Bello had detailed gunmen to kill him.