Gov Ododo urged to save Kogi community from kidnappers

The Biraidu Development Elites, a respected sociocultural group, has issued an urgent appeal to Governor Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo, warning that Abocho and surrounding villages in Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State are increasingly under the control of kidnappers.

In a statement signed by spokesperson Mr. John Momoh, the group highlighted that bandits now use forests and back roads around Abocho, Ofafu, and Adiyele as corridors to transport victims abducted from Ofu LGA and the busy Abuja–South-East highway.

“The forests have become a depot where kidnappers stash or shuffle captives. They operate almost openly because no one stops them,” the statement read.

The group also lamented that most attacks go unreported, leaving residents feeling invisible.

“In the past two months, search parties have recovered several unidentifiable bodies from the bush,” the group claimed.

The Elites described Abocho’s local economy as effectively paralyzed: markets that once thrived on market days now sit empty, and many farmers and traders have fled.

Roads are reportedly impassable, and there is no functioning primary healthcare centre, leaving residents feeling cut off.

“Abocho has simply fallen off the map—no roads, no hospitals, and now no markets. We are begging Governor Ododo to treat this as an emergency,” Momoh said.

The group urged the state government to deploy a joint security task force, calling for regular army patrols to clear forest fringes, mobile police units stationed along transit routes, and support for local vigilantes to provide reliable intelligence to formal security forces.

“We still trust Governor Ododo can keep Kogi safe. Abocho must not be allowed to disappear through neglect,” the Biraidu Development Elites concluded, appealing for urgent government action to restore security and revive the local economy.