The Egbe Central Security Committee in Yagba West Local Government Area (LGA) of Kogi State has called on the state government and the council chairman to urgently investigate the roles of two community leaders (names withheld) in the release of eight suspects caught smuggling fuel in jerricans and hard drugs through the bush path toward the airfield from Okoa community.
According to a statement by the Secretary of the Egbe Central Security Committee, Elder S. K. Oniya, the Egbe Indigenous Security Guards caught the suspects, barely two days after another breakthrough against those supplying food and drugs to armed bandits around the LGA.
But, one of the leaders in the community allegedly ordered the release of the jerricans of fuel, which is against the 1 October 2025 directive of the local council Chairman, Hon. Tosin Olokun. The suspects themselves were released from custody the same day without any investigation or trial.
The statement read: ‘This is a clear sabotage of the ongoing anti-terror operations and a betrayal of our indigenous guards who risked their lives to protect the people. It directly goes against Hon. Tosin Olokun’s press statement, which warned that anyone selling or transporting fuel or supplies into the forests is aiding bandits and must face strict penalties.
‘We cannot be fighting criminals on one hand and releasing their suppliers on the other.
The Egbe people deserve to know who is standing for the community and who is standing for the enemies of peace’.
The committee then called on the state government and the council chairman to urgently investigate the roles of two community leaders (names withheld) in what it describes as ‘disgraceful compromise’.
