The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Kogi State Command

  • NAPTIP arrests three suspected traffickers

    The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Kogi State Command, has arrested three suspected human traffickers.

    The suspects, identified as Evelyn Jerry, 27, Stephen Rebecca, 30, and Richard Patrick, 38, were intercepted by soldiers along Lokoja-Abuja Road with children between the ages of three and 13 crammed into an eight-seater bus marked JJN964XB,  NAPTIP said in a statement yesterday.

    Spokesperson Nneka Aniagoh said the suspects and victims were first handed over to the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) Lokoja, which later handed them over to NAPTIP.

    She said the victims were taken from Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State and moved to Ekpoma in Edo State as domestic helps.

    Aniagoh said the suspects claimed the victims’ parents gave consent for them to be given out as domestic helps, adding that the suspects and victims were from the same town.

    “They claimed that the parents of the 14 children gave consent to take them and send them to households for domestic labour.

    “The Director-General of NAPTIP, Dame Julie Okah-Donli, expressed sincere appreciation to the officers of the Nigerian Army and the NIS for their contributory efforts in the interception, rescue and hand-over of the victims and suspects,” said Aniagoh.

    Quoting the DG, she said the national referral mechanism being put in place by NAPTIP and relevant agencies aimed to achieve synergy in stopping human trafficking.

    “Dame Okah-Donli takes this opportunity to warn the public that the Trafficking In Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015, prohibits the employment of children below the age of 12 as domestic workers, and warns that those found culpable will be severely dealt with.

    “The NAPTIP DG says such acts fuel the incidence of child exploitative labour and the agency will not tolerate such abuse on our children. The suspects will definitely be arraigned upon completion of preliminary investigations,” Aniagoh said.

  • Kogi: Army trains NSCDC officers in weapon-handling

    Kogi: Army trains NSCDC officers in weapon-handling

    No fewer than 128 officers of the Kogi State command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) have been trained in weapon-handling.

    The training took place at the Chari Maigumeri Command Army Records, in Lokoja, the state capital.

    The training under the tutelage of the Nigerian Army aims to prepare the NSCDC officers to tackle the challenges of criminality in the state.

    Speaking at the passing-out parade ceremony at the Command Army Record formation, the NSCDC Zonal Commander in-charge of Zone H, Mr. Osemwegie Osaro Lugard, said the training will enhance the capacity of the personnel in tackling the menace of kidnapping, armed robbery, vandalism of critical infrastructure and other forms of criminality in the state.

    He said that the NSCDC will continue to accord priority to the training and retraining of its men for efficiency, adding that about 85 percent the personnel of the Kogi State Command have been trained on weapons handling.

    The State Commander, Mr. Everistus Obiyo, expressed satisfaction with the training programme and assured that the command will continue to collaborate with other security agencies in the state, to rid the state of criminality.

    He said that the training will further sharpen the operational readiness of the NSCDC officers and in cementing the existing synergy among the security outfits in the state.

    He admonished the newly trained officers to exhibit high sense of responsibility in the discharge of their duties, just as he called for the cooperation of Kogi residents, in the onerous duty of keeping Kogi safe.

  • Kogi gets new CP

    Kogi gets new CP

    The Inspector General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris Tuesday deployed a new Commissioner of Police, Mr. Wilson Inalegwu to take charge of the Kogi State Command.

    Until his redeployment, Inalegwu was the commissioner of police in charge of Ekiti State Command.

    He takes over from Mr Abdullahi Chafe Ibrahim who has been deployed to the Ekiti Command.

    Chafe, who described the incoming CP as an experienced officer, called on officers and men of the command as well as the general public to cooperate with him to enable him succeed.

    In his remarks, the incoming CP, Mr Wilson Inalegwu promised to collaborate with all critical stakeholders to make Kogi safer for the people.

    He said that the command will give attention to visibility policing, effective patrol and intelligence gathering, amongst other strategies to address security challenges in the state.

  • SSS arrest kidnappers in military gear

    SSS arrest kidnappers in military gear

    The men of the Department of State Security Service (SSS), Kogi State Command said on Wednesday that it had in the last few weeks arrested at least 10 suspected kidnappers terrorising the state.

    Six of the suspects have been arraigned in court, while four others operating in full military combat uniforms paraded were to be arraigned on Wednesday.

    Mr. Joseph Okpo, the state command director of the command, who disclosed this to newsmen in Lokoja, said that the command last week arrested four members of a six-man gang that had been terrorizing motorists along the Abuja-Lokoja highway.

    According to him, those arrested included Haruna Saleh, Kabiru Shuaibu, Mumuni Adamu and Tukur Shuaibu, saying they specialised in robbery and kidnapping along major roads.

    He said that they confessed to have been involved in some operations on the Maraba-Jos road, Malufashi on the Zaria-Kaduna and Jaji-Zaria roads, in full military uniform.

    He explained that the suspects were apprehended on their way from Kaduna axis to link up with gang members in Obajana where they planned to engage in fresh operations.

    The suspects he said were already giving leads on the source of the military uniforms, adding that the command has liased with the state command of the Nigeria Police to investigate the source.

    He said upon interrogation, the suspects confessed to have been involved in six operations between the Ramadan period and the day they were arrested.

    He said investigation revealed that most of the kidnappers operating in the state were from outside Kogi, lamenting that they were taking advantage of the geographical location and the route structure of the state.

    He however pledged that the command will continue to partner other security agencies to address the security challenges and “take advantage of the renewed zeal” of the state government to fight crime.