.Ask the DSS and others to invite and question the authors of baseless social media complaints.
.According to reports, ‘Abuja Street Urchins’ sought to blackmail the military and others.
Kogi State residents from the three major ethnic groups have urged the Department of State Services, the Police, and other security authorities to summon individuals publicly encouraging violence in the state through hate campaigns and baseless allegations for questioning as soon as possible.
At a news conference conducted in Abuja following an emergency meeting, those representing thousands of worried indigenes called on all true Kogites, both at home and abroad, to rise up against “merchants of disharmony” in the state.
They insisted that people who use their social media handles to propagate lies and initiate hate campaigns be properly examined in order to identify those encouraging violence in Kogi State, and that those found guilty be arrested and prosecuted.
Richard Leke, Vice President, Kogi Youth Leaders’ Forum; Ishaq Musa, Organising Secretary; Abdullahi Ugbede, member; and former PDP Kogi West Senatorial District Candidate, Adeyemi Olabode John, among others, addressed the press on their behalf.
They said that the sponsored demonstration to the Defence Headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday was staged solely to intimidate the military and other security services from carrying out their legal constitutional obligations in Kogi State, and that this must be opposed in the interest of peace in the state.
They said that the protest was sponsored by individuals behind violent attacks in Kogi State who do not wish good for the state, pointing out that the purported protestors were mostly street urchins picked from Abuja suburbs.
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“Why would anyone want to discourage security agents from doing their jobs if they have no criminal intentions?” Either that or these people are not genuine Kogi State residents. They are not possible.
“Their protest today, which included non-Kogi indigenes except for one or two, confirms that they are not Kogites.” They said that “one or two sponsored agents of violence from Kogi simply picked some street urchins on the streets of Abuja suburbs to do the so-called protest.”
The Kogi indigenes cited a post by one Faruk Adejoh-Audu as an example of a hate campaign and baseless claims that must be investigated.
“Some of them have turned their social media handles into a platform for hate speeches and campaigns of calumny that can incite the people into a mob action that may prove extremely difficult to manage and lead to unnecessary loss of lives and properties,” Ugbede added.
“A recent example was when one Faruk Adejoh-Audu made a social media post (please see attached) that had the potential to jeopardize state peace and lead to bloody violence.”
“As you can see, what Mr Audu implied in that post has the potential to spark intractable violence in the state because it is intended to incite mass discontent and violent clashes.” We believe that Mr Audu has a hidden objective for making such outlandish claims and that he should be forced to explain to security authorities, particularly the Department of State Services, to whom this petition is addressed, why he is interested in inciting mayhem in Kogi State. He must reveal everything he knows about preparations to cause mayhem in Kogi State.”
“Any genuine Kogi indigene will never encourage violence and criminality by asking security agents to desist from decimating criminal activities in the state,” the Kogi indigenes declared in their petition headed “An Open Petition To Quickly Arrest Instigators of Violence In Kogi State.”
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“All genuine Kogi State indigenes, both at home and abroad, must unite to condemn these disharmony merchants pretending to be what they are not.”
“We are deeply concerned that, with the governorship election only five months away, some political miscreants backed by state instigators of violence are beginning to lay the groundwork for violence before, during, and after the election and blaming it on others.” This style of toxic politics cannot be tolerated in Kogi State.
“In the last eight years, we’ve had near-perfect peace and harmony, and we don’t want any group of politicians and non-politicians who know they can’t win elections in an atmosphere of peace and stability to return Kogi State to its former state of anomie.”
“We urge the Department of State Services to step up its game in Kogi State by firmly dealing with all purveyors of chaos.” We demand that anyone seen inciting violence in any shape or form in Kogi State, regardless of position, be arrested and prosecuted immediately.
“Those who hide on social media to make outrageous and unsubstantiated claims should not be excluded.” Our organization does not subscribe to the obnoxious notion that politics is a “do-or-die” endeavor.”