Kogi State witnessed of late, influx of suspected members of the Boko Haram displaced by the continuous onslaught and bombardment by the Nigeria military in the north east. These elements took advantage of the friendly nature of Kogi state and mingled with ease and in other to survive, they engaged themselves in nefarious acts like robbery, kidnapping and masquerading as Fulani herdsmen in other to perpetrate their heinous act unnoticed.
However, the government of Kogi State rose to the occasion and left no stone unturned to get rid of these criminal elements. Various key arrests have been made and proactive steps have been taken by the government to crush the crescendo, hence the proactive approach of the Governor won him the award of Best governor on security matters last year. To a very large extent, incessant kidnapping and crime rates have drastically been depleted within Kogi state by the actions of security operatives spurred by the government.
One of the many proactive steps the Kogi state government employed in sacking criminal elements is the demolition of properties used by these criminals. This is aimed at flushing out criminals from their hideouts within the state, not giving them a safe haven. In this light, the governor advised landlords to know the occupations of their occupants because no building where these criminals are found would be spared from demolition. To this end, many buildings have been pulled down in Kogi central and eastern flank of the state.
To further ensure safety on our highways, the state government embarked on the clearing of very wide stretch of highway road sides back inwards, running into hundreds of kilometers, most especially the Okene-Lokoja-Abuja road. This is to enable highway users have clear vision of the stretch of road ahead of them and not taken by surprise.
It was discovered that, these criminal elements, use the tall bushes and trees to camouflage, making them obscured from view of highway users, after which they jump out from the bush to maim and inflict severe pains to unsuspecting travelers.
In the light of the forgoing, the Kogi State Ministry of Agriculture in conjunction with the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in line with one of the thematic areas of the Kogi state New Direction blueprint, flagged off the planting of cover crops, melon most especially on the cleared spots. Melon being a cover crop does not grow high like cereals crops such as maize, sorghum etc but spread wide on the ground preventing other plant from growing above it. Most importantly, the leaves of these crops contains toxins that are detrimental to the health of any ruminant, hence Fulani herdsmen menace will also be contained and curtailed with this method.
Speaking, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Hon Oloruntoba Kehinde said that aside from this agricultural practice being used as security measure, it would create employment opportunities for teeming unemployed youths as the Local Government’s Areas would be responsible for the upkeep of these plants and the final produces would belong to them; they could then sell to generate income. He also reiterated that very soon, in no distant time, the ministry would provide farmers with modern farming implements for mechanized farming, reasons are, Kogi state is blessed with rich arable land mass and economical viable farm produce that would increase the IGR of the state while giving the jobs.
Photo Credit: Ahammed Shaba
Williams Charles Oluwatoyin
Writes from Lokoja
wlmcharles@yahoo.co.uk
