A group, Kogi State Non-governmental Network, Kongonet, has condemned the attack on Federal Radio FM station by bandits and the brutal assassination of a photo journalist, Ayo Aiyepekuna, by a suspected ritualist who was later claimed to have taken his own life by drinking poison.
The Chairman of Kongonet, Hamza Aliyu, who stated this in a statement in Lokoja over the weekend, said the incidents have once again exposed the challenges bedevilling the security architecture both at the National and sub-national levels in the country.
Recall that Kogi State has been in the news in the past few days as a result of the murder of a photo journalist by a man identified as a staff member of one of the paramilitary agencies working in the state, as well as the attack on the Federal Radio Station in Jimbe by bandits.
The attackers were said to have vandalised the studio and carted away several equipment after a heavy blow to the building.
Aliyu lamented that the state is in dire need of security beef-up and improved strategies to stem the tide of violent attacks across the state.
The Kongonet Chairman, who commended the state government in the area of security, said more needed to be done to rid the state of unwanted elements terrorising the state.
The organisation, which comprises all human rights groups in the state, sympathises with the family of the slain photo journalist, Ayo and the management of Prime FM (Radio Nigeria) over the attack on their facilities by men of the underworld.
” We especially call on the Security Agencies to investigate the brutal attack on the INSIDE STORY Photo-Journalist and identify his whereabouts to bring closure to the family, who have not only had to bear the trauma of the news of the attack but have to bear the pain of not knowing the fate of their loved one.
“We also call on the Kogi State Government in particular to pay special attention to Media establishments located in the state so as to enhance their capabilities to perform their constitutional duties to citizens by providing periodic subventions to cover overhead and employment of properly equipped security around their premises.” the statement added.
It was further revealed by an eyewitness account, that the body of Ayo couldn’t be found as it was alleged to have been dismembered by the assailant, and packaged in a deep Freezer inside his room.
The killer who was on the trail of the law enforcement agents was later discovered to have killed himself at a hotel where he had gone to avoid being arrested.
