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Bello, APC plotting to unleash terror on our members – Kogi PDP raises fresh alarm
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Kogi State, has raised an alarm over moves by the state governor, Mr Yahaya Bello, to deploy his agents to the State Secretariat of the party to allegedly extort the sum of N35.7 million from PDP candidates or they would be disallowed to display their posters or billboards or campaign in any public space in the state.
Spokesman of Kogi State PDP Presidential Election Management Committee, Faruk Adejoh-Audu, who made this known in a statement he issued on Thursday, November 10, 2022, said the demand by the state government was an alibi for visiting another round of violence on PDP and her members.
Adejoh-Audu, who also described the move as “yet another primitive display of brute force and abuse of constitutional power,” disclosed that the agents of the state were demanding that the party furnishes them with the Tax Clearance Certificates of all the PDP Candidates for the National and State Assembly Elections for scrutiny, claiming that they suspected that the tax certificates of the PDP candidates were fake.
Narrating their encounter with the state agents, Adejoh-Audu said: “For a start, Bello’s agents claimed they derived their powers to prevent PDP candidates from campaigning or displaying posters and billboards from an unknown signage law dated 2022, which they claimed was passed by the all- APC member House of Assembly.
“We are confident that no such law was passed in the Chambers of the House except, it was hurriedly written in Government House days ago and given to the Speaker and Clerk of the puppet legislature to sign for the purposes of targeting and clamping down on the PDP .
“Since his assumption of office in 2016, the APC government constituted a squad of violent urchins that stalk the state, tearing and defacing posters and bill boards of candidates of other parties.
“In 2019 only APC posters and billboards were visible across the state as the urchins attack persons pasting posters or mounting billboards.
“Secondly the state Secretariat of the party is not the custodian of Nomination forms, but the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Thus, it is curious that they are threatening the party to produce the forms of all its candidates for them to scrutinise their tax certificates.”
The Kogi State PDP Presidential Election Management Committee Spokesman noted that the latest act of intimidation in the guise of signages and tax clearance follows a familiar pattern of sustained persecution by Bello against the PDP in Kogi State during election periods.
“From our experience, these antics will ultimately culminate in the cold-blooded killings of our supporters and party members.
“In the last two weeks, Bello, using proxies, had attempted to forcefully evict the party from its Secretariat in Okene. On the heels of this harassment, was the abduction of a new decampee from the APC, Ibrahim Fari Shafiu, by compromised security agents working for Bello.
“They claimed to have recovered explosives from the house of the decampee and labelled him a terrorist recruited by PDP.
“But the said Ibrahim, an ally of Bello before he decamped, by their own admission in a now viral video released by the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Mr Abdulkareem Asuku, was freed from prison and given lots of money to work for Bello before he defected to the PDP.
“Two days before Shafiu’s abduction, our party had cried out to the security agencies of plans by Bello to use his agents to plant explosives in the houses of party stalwarts and frame them up for arrests, but the alarm was ignored.
“Rather the security agencies were complicit in the operation to frame Shafiu which had been infamously and erroneously misrepresented as American military clamping down on a terrorist in Trademore Estate, Lugbe,” Adeloh-Audu alleged.
He said that the PDP was familiar with “Bello’s despicable repressive tactics.”
“In the build up to the 2019 Kogi Governorship By-Election, a Retired Assistant Commissioner of Police and Head of PDP Elections Security Committee in Dekina LGA, Mr Eje Abutu, dreaded by Bello’s thugs who had guns dumped in his house by his abductors.
“Some of the abductors were dressed in military camouflage while others wore mufti and bullet armoured vests.
“They dragged him from the bed where he was sleeping with his little son. In what would qualify for a horror movie, the toddler watched while they beat and brutalised his father before forcing him to pose for photographs with the firearms before abducting him,” he added.
Adejoh-Audu said that the Kogi State Police Command denied knowledge of the incident and claimed he was not in their custody. Mr Abutu luckily escaped assassination because some Police personnel who knew him previously as their superior, leaked his whereabouts and warned that unless his family raised alarm, he was going to be quietly eliminated. That was how the former Assistant Commissioner of Police was saved from a cruel fate. But he was held in detention until the election was over.
Giving further details of the alleged onslaught of the opposition party in the state, the Kogi State PDP Presidential Election Management Committee Spokesman said:
“The Okene LG Chairman of the party, Alhaji Musa Adelabu, wasn’t that lucky. He was abducted from his home by unknown armed men dressed in military camouflage in early August 2019, some three months to the Bye-Election.
“More than three years later, Adelabu has not been found despite repeated outcry and appeal by the party. We dread to think of the fate that must have been visited on him.
“The election itself became the bloodiest in the history of democracy in Kogi State, with thugs killing people across the state while a Police helicopter was shooting at voters from the air.
“Even after the elections, the Women Leader of Ochadamu Ward, Mrs Salome Acheju Abu, was forcefully barricaded in her house by APC thugs and roasted alive. Our supporters were killed in several local government areas.
“We have gone to this length to show Mr Bello’s modus operandi and his appetite for unprovoked violence during electioneering seasons.
“These flurries of threats and harrying in the last two weeks are signs we recognize as precursors to full scale violence and bloodbath on our members and supporters.
“We do not say this lightly. Bello is recorded on video threatening to personally kill and maim anyone who attempts to prevent him from winning the upcoming elections.”
Kogi PDP, therefore, appealed to security agencies to act to nip the impending danger in the bud so that free and fair polls could take place in the state.
“Again we cry out to the world and the security institutions to dismantle Mr Bello’s infrastructure of violence and liberate the people of Kogi State to freely exercise their constitutionally guaranteed democratic rights to participate in the elections without fear or harm.
“We call on all men of good conscience to add their voice to arresting the situation in Kogi State where the rule of force has clearly undermined free choice,” Adejoh-Audu added.
Efforts to get the reaction of the governor’s aides to the PDP’s public outcry proved abortive by press time but The Advocate obtained copies of the letters written to the opposition party threatening to stop their candidates from campaign if they failed to meet the demands made by the government.
The contentious letters from Kogi State Government to the State Chapter of PDP:
Kogi State has been thrown into mourning as former Governor of the state, Ibrahim Idris, fondly called Ibro, has reportedly died in the United Kingdom at 77.
Sources broke the sad news on Sunday, with details of his passing still sketchy as of press time.
Though details regarding the latest development are still sketchy, family sources said Idris had suffered protracted illness.
Meanwhile, incumbent Kogi State Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo has condoled with the former governor’s family.
In his condolence message, Ododo described the late lawmaker as a man who had made meaningful contributions in politics and business.
The governor also recalled his last meeting with the ex-governor in March 2024 during a visit involving political stakeholders from Omala Local Government Area.
Ibro was not just a governor. He was an institution.
From businessman to political colossus, Idris stormed Kogi politics in 2003 when he floored incumbent Abubakar Audu to emerge governor on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party.
What followed was a turbulent, dramatic reign.
His 2007 re-election was nullified by the courts after Audu was excluded from the ballot. The Court of Appeal in February 2008 ordered a fresh election. Idris fought back and won the March 2008 re-run, holding on to power until January 2012 when he handed over to Captain Idris Wada.
Born in Idah in 1949, Idris built his name in business before politics — founder of Ibro Trading Company, with tentacles in construction, furniture and hospitality.
He built a furniture factory in Sokoto and Ibro Hotel, reputed to be the first three-star hotel in old Sokoto State.
Fate tested him in 2006 when three of his daughters miraculously survived the ill-fated ADC Airlines Flight 53 crash that killed 96 others. A grateful Ibro called it a “superlative show of mercy” from God.
But tragedy never left him far.
In April 2024, he buried his son, Mohammed Ibrahim Idris, former member of the House of Representatives for Ankpa/Olamaboro/Omala, who died in Abuja shortly after Eid-el-Fitr prayers.
… Records major drug seizures across eight states, FCT
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have intercepted more than 1.3 million pills and capsules of tramadol and other opioids, as well as 6,000kg of cannabis, in a series of operations across eight states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The agency said the seizures had a combined street value of more than N3.4 billion.
The operations were conducted in Lagos, Edo, Niger, Delta, Ondo, Gombe and Imo states, as well as the FCT.
The NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers of the various commands for what he described as professionalism and intelligence-driven operations, urging them to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control.
A major highlight of the operations was the interception of 1,200 parcels of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, weighing 603.75kg and valued at N1.811 billion.
The operation also led to the arrest of a 49-year-old suspected drug trafficker, Innocent Ekpe, who allegedly impersonated a senior police officer to evade scrutiny at checkpoints while transporting illicit drugs across state lines.
Ekpe was arrested on Wednesday, September 16, along the Benin-Onitsha Expressway in Asaba, Delta State, with 292.48kg of skunk concealed in his silver Toyota Sienna bus.
According to the agency, preliminary investigation revealed that Ekpe allegedly presented himself as Godwin Emeka, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, using a forged police identification card.
A 39-year-old alleged accomplice, Nduka Joseph, was also arrested.
In Edo State, NDLEA operatives acting on intelligence raided a location along Agbor Road, Benin City, where they arrested 45-year-old Matthew Ossai.
The agency said Ossai allegedly used his auto-repair workshop to store illicit drugs.
Operatives recovered 48kg of Canadian Loud, 152 grammes of methamphetamine and a metal box allegedly used to store the substances.
At the Tin-Can Island Port in Lagos, NDLEA operatives placed a 40-foot container shipped from Montreal, Canada, under surveillance after it arrived on September 12.
A joint physical examination conducted with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies on Wednesday, September 16, led to the discovery of 1,200 parcels of Canadian Loud weighing 603.75kg.
The consignment was concealed inside 31 black jumbo bags loaded into two Toyota Sienna vehicles in the container.
In Niger State, three suspects — Bashir Usman, 20; Abubakar Nuhu, 18; and Abdulrahman Abdulwahab, 18 — were arrested on Tuesday, September 15, during a patrol along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway at Chachi, Tafa Local Government Area.
The suspects were allegedly found with two locally fabricated AK-47 rifles and a magazine, a locally made pistol with a magazine, and nine rounds of 9mm ammunition concealed in a black travel bag.
Two other suspects, Aminu Isyaku, 23, and Jamilu Habibu, 25, were arrested on Friday, September 18, along the Abaji-Abuja Highway.
The agency said more than 1.1 million assorted tramadol tablets and capsules, codeine syrup, methamphetamine and Exol tablets were recovered from them.
The substances were allegedly concealed in eight sacks and were being transported from Onitsha, Anambra State, to Mararaba, Nasarawa State.
In Lagos, NDLEA operatives arrested Onyeka Ofor at his residence in Aguda, Surulere, on Friday, September 18, with 48,900 pills of tramadol 225mg.
Seven cartons of cannabis sativa weighing 59kg were also intercepted at a logistics company in the state, leading to the arrest of a suspect identified as Luke Ugokwe.
In another operation in Lagos, 43-year-old Ibrahim Hudu was arrested at Apongbo on Thursday, September 17, with 998.38kg of nitrous oxide gas.
In Gombe State, a total of 154,480 capsules of tramadol were recovered from two suspects, Sabi’u Umar, 27, and Hassana Muhammad, 19.
The suspects were arrested at the Barunde area and Gombe Main Market respectively on Friday, September 18.
In Imo State, 25-year-old Ifesinachi Godwin was arrested along the Owerri-Onitsha Road on Friday with 43.85kg of skunk.
Similarly, four suspects — Blessing Effiong, Saviour Peter, David Friday Sunday and Ability Peter Sunday — were arrested during a raid on a two-hectare cannabis farm in Ita-Ogbolu Forest, Ondo State, on Tuesday, September 15.
The NDLEA said 5,000kg of skunk was destroyed during the operation, while 48kg of dried and fresh cannabis was recovered from the location.
Meanwhile, commands and formations of the agency continued their War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, sensitisation campaigns across the country during the week.
The activities included enlightenment lectures for students and staff of St. Ferdinand School, Ogbomoso, Oyo State; Unizik Secondary School, Awka, Anambra State; Scholars Nursery and Primary School, Epe, Lagos State; and Government Technical Training School, Jalingo, Taraba State.
The Delta Ports Command also paid a WADA advocacy visit to traditional ruler, King Couple Mackson Oromoni Mobene III, Pere Ama-Okosu of Ogbe-Ijoh Warri Kingdom, Delta State.
The NDLEA said the sensitisation activities were part of its continued efforts to raise awareness about the dangers of illicit drug use and trafficking.
A woman identified as Bilkisu Sani has been arrested in Rogo Local Government Area of Kano State over the alleged killing of her husband, Hafisu Gausu, amid reported plans by the deceased to marry another woman.
According to reports, the incident occurred around 7pm on Friday, September 18, 2026, in the Katsalle area of Rogo town.
A resident, Auwal Kazagi Rogo, said residents rushed to the scene after hearing cries from Bilkisu, who reportedly claimed that her husband had been kidnapped and killed.
Kazagi said residents who arrived at the scene found Gausu with an injury to his head. He explained that contrary to the initial claim that the deceased had been slaughtered, residents allegedly found that he had been struck with an object.
He said the police were immediately contacted and subsequently evacuated the body for investigation.
According to the resident, Gausu had reportedly been planning to marry another woman as his second wife, a decision that allegedly led to repeated disagreements between him and Bilkisu.
Kazagi said the woman had allegedly vowed to prevent the marriage, prompting community elders to intervene in an attempt to resolve the dispute. However, tensions reportedly continued.
The police subsequently arrested Bilkisu as the prime suspect, while investigations into the circumstances surrounding Gausu’s death remain ongoing.
The deceased was buried on Saturday morning in Rogo in accordance with Islamic rites.
Reports indicate that Gausu and Bilkisu had been married for nearly seven years and had two children. Bilkisu is also reportedly pregnant for the deceased.
Sources in the community further claimed that Gausu had asked his prospective bride’s family to bring forward the wedding date by two months because of the reported disagreement with his wife.
The police have yet to conclude their investigation into the incident, and the allegations against Bilkisu remain subject to the outcome of the investigation and any subsequent court proceedings.
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