Igala Elders Demand Postponement Of Kogi Governorship Election

An Igala group, Kogi East Elders Council (KEEC), has called for the postponement of the November 11 governorship election in the state.

The council, in a statement on Thursday by its Secretary of Political Committee, Alphonsus K. Alhassan, said the election should be postponed due to the violence and killings in the state.

The elders also called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to declare a state of emergency in Kogi and appoint an administrator to oversee the affairs of the state until normalcy is restored.

According to the council, a state of emergency is necessary to ensure the upcoming election is free, fair and credible.

The statement read in parts: “What we are seeing in Kogi State and Kogi East in particular leaves much to be desired. We cannot watch our people intimidated, harassed and slaughtered endlessly by anybody in the name of politics. We have had enough of this beastly behaviour.”

Also, the elders demanded the redeployment of the State Commissioner of Police, Bethrand Onuoha, the Director of Department of State Services (DSS), Navy Commander, NU Akalezi, out of Kogi State immediately, alleging that they had been compromised.

IGP Egebtokun Visits Kogi, Probes Anyigba Killings

Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has said that an investigation has been launched into Tuesday’s violent incident at Anyigba in Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State.

The police chief stated this during a courtesy visit to Governor Yahaya Bello at the Government House in Lokoja, the state capital, on Thursday.

Egbetokun said the police authority was not happy with the pockets of pre-election violence already recorded in the state and that necessary precautions are being taken to prevent further violence before, during and after the election in the state.

He said: “Although not conclusive, it seems like an operational error, but an investigation will reveal what happened. I want to assure that police will be neutral and will do their job in the election.“