National Commandant of Peace Corps of Nigeria (PCN), Dr Dickson Akoh has condemned the dastardly massacre of innocent lives during a robbery incident that engulfed some new generation banks in Oturkpo, Benue last week.
He described the heinous crime as unwarranted, uncalled for, irritating and canvassed that all hands must be on deck by security agencies and the people to nib future occurrences in the bud.
In his reaction to the ugly incident in a statement in Abuja, Akoh recounted how a similar incident of bank robbery in Oturkpo led to the killing of some Police officers on duty in Ojali in cold blood some years ago.
While consoling the bereaved families and the Idoma nation over the attack, he advocated for intelligence gathering to be the major panacea to the lingering security lapses that had left the area porous and often at the mercy of men of the underworld.
“Security men can achieve little if taken unawares in arms combat just as witnessed in this case. Perpetrators of such organized crime must have studied the terrain and the security gaps before striking”, he added.
He called on Idoma sons and daughters to be united in finding lasting solutions to the security challenges in Benue South adding that no landmark development can be achieved without the security of lives and properties of the people.
Akoh who is the Oyachaba K’Idoma of Idoma
land condemned the cold blood killing of a banker and Customers and also some Police officers, including the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Oturkpo who lost their lives in the line of duty while combating the criminals and condole with the families of the bereaved.
According to him, “this is one attack too many that must be nipped in the bud so as to avert any of such occurrences in the future”.
While applauding the prompt responses of the men of the Nigeria Army, the Nigeria Police, the Department of State Services, and the brave Idoma Youth for combating those criminals leading to the death of two of them, Akoh called on the various security Agencies to continue to synergise and not to relent in their efforts until every one of those criminals is apprehended and punished severely for the crime against the peace-loving people of Idoma land.
He called on the government to lay out programs and activities geared towards the meaningful engagement of the Youth in productive ventures to take them away from crime.
READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNEÂ
and then