The Kogi State House of Assembly has condemned killings in Kupa District, Lokoja Local Government Area, that claimed at least 12 lives, calling on the National Security Adviser (NSA) to disband hybrid vigilante groups and recover their arms.
The Assembly acted on a motion moved by Speaker Aliyu Umar Yusuf, who said the violence stemmed from a clash between the Kupa Community Vigilante Group and a hybrid vigilante group after a member of the latter allegedly resisted a stop-and-search order, and opened fire. The hybrid vigilante member killed in that exchange was reportedly followed by a reprisal attack in Eguchidan, bringing the toll to three deaths in Eguchidan, six in Emiku and two in Abugi, alongside the initial fatality.
Yusuf said the Kogi State Vigilante Service, established under former Governor Yahaya Bello with Assembly backing to complement conventional security agencies, had seen its groups exceed their mandate and turn on one another. He said the Chief Imam of Kupa, Alhaji Gimba Aliyu, was among several people receiving treatment for gunshot injuries.
The Speaker commended Governor Usman Ododo for directing the deployment of security personnel to the affected communities, and noted the incident was the third major violent episode in Kupa, after the 2014 Ekpan-Abugi invasion and the 2015 Gugurugi mamassacre.
He urged the governor to disband existing vigilante structures in Kupa, recover all arms, and deploy forest guards recruited from trusted, terrain-familiar indigenes of the area.
The Assembly commended the Commander of 12 Brigade, Chari Megumeri Barracks, Lokoja, and the Kogi State Commissioner of Police for their response, and called for additional police deployment to the Abugi Divisional Police Office.
Other lawmakers, including Olawumi Jacob, Ebaiya Shehu Tijjani, Enefola, Abu Onoru-Oiza Jibrin and Aliyu Maikudi, backed the motion, calling for stronger security measures. Idowu Ibikunle alleged that some hybrid vigilante members were collaborating with kidnappers terrorising communities in the state.
Presiding, Deputy Speaker Comfort Egwaba commended Governor Ododo’s prompt intervention in the Kupa crisis and in a separate kidnapping incident along the Itobe-Anyigba Road, in which victims were rescued, and thanked security agencies for their efforts.