Gov Bello lauds Nigeria Army, assures of KGSG partnership with security agencies »

Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello has lauded the Nigeria Army for its numerous contributions to ensuring the safety of lives and quelling several security concerns in the country.

The governor further assured the Nigeria Army and other security agencies of his government’s continued partnership which would be to foster security and safety of the lives of the people of the confluence state.

Governor Bello made this known in Abuja on Friday, at the 2019 West African Social Activities (WASA) of the 7th Guards Brigade in his goodwill message delivered by his Deputy, Chief Edward Onoja who represented the governor.

He expressed that over the years, in countless operations, sometimes in Joint Task Forces with other security agencies, the Nigerian Military has always risen to the task of protecting the country’s territorial integrity and economic assets from attacks by militants and armed agitators fired by different malignant ideologies.

Governor Bello affirmed that the military have quelled many internal insurrections against the Nigerian state, such as the one by the Maitatsine Sect noting that credit of this victory should be given to President Buhari and the entire military force.

He opined that Kogi State has contributed her fair share to the exploits and sacrifices of the Military in Nigeria mentioning that the State also pays its debt of gratitude to families of heroes who have lost their life while they performed their duty.

Governor Bello commended the roles of the Armed Forces in strengthening the state’s capacity to provide peace and security in Kogi State during the New Direction’s Administration.

He stated that with the establishment of Operation Total Freedom, members of the Armed Forces, in conjunction with other Security Agencies, quickly contained the high incidence of violent crimes inherited from our predecessors.
The governor established that their brave efforts have contributed immensely to the huge decline in the rates of kidnapping, armed robbery and other serious crimes in the State.

In his words ‘’On our part as Government, we did, and will continue to do, our best to be good partners to the Nigerian Army and other security agencies. In particular we provided scores of patrol vans, communication gadgets and other logistics for the Army formations in our territory. We also built a Forward Operations Base (FOB) for the Nigerian Army from scratch at Achoze, near Okene and have remained involved in the support services required to keep it functional and effective.’’

He reiterated that Kogi State under his leadership has been rated the second most peaceful state in Nigeria after Osun State and the most peaceful in the North by the Nigerian Peace Index, 2018.

He also pointed out that Kogi was also rated the state with the second lowest crime statistics in the country after Kebbi State by the National Bureau for Statistics (NBS), 2018 noting that these testimonials to peace and security could not have been possible without the commanding bravery of men of the Nigerian Army in the state.

Governor Bello charged the military to maintain the professionalism which has characterised their conduct in this 4th Republic, ascertaining that they have shown that they have only one overriding duty, and that is to ensure, not just the survival, but the thriving of Democracy in our nation.