The Kogi State Government has said the excavation of some roads on Thursday in Kogi Central District in Natasha Akpoti home town was a deliberate security measure to cut off traffic on those roads to restrict its use by criminals.
The Commissioner for Information and Communications in the state, Kingsley Fanwo, disclosed this in a statement in Lokoja, saying criminals had been breaching the peace of the area with attendant loss of lives and property.
The state government drew the attention of the public to an explosion that rocked the Okehi Local Government secretariat complex a few days ago, as well as the Okene blast of December 29, 2022, during a visit by President Muhammadu Buhari to the state.
Fanwo said in view of the recent explosion in the district, the state government convened an emergency security council meeting to address the security challenges and to devise strategies of averting future occurrences.
“One of the measures arrived at was to restrict the number of routes to the flashpoints to enable security agents to properly mount effective surveillance on the other access roads for the safety of the people, especially as they go to the polls on Saturday, February 25, 2023,” the statement read.
However, the senatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Kogi Central, Barrister Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has alleged that Governor Yahaya Bello ordered the excavation of the roads to obstruct Saturday elections and keep her hostage.
“We woke up this morning (Thursday) to the news that Yahaya Bello has instructed the excavation of all access roads to my home town.
“My hometown (Ihima) is cut off from Obangede community; it is also cut off from Eika. And right now, I am in front of another road which was just excavated, thereby cutting me out of travelling out of my home town.
“What this means is, INEC would not be able to go to certain communities, especially my hometown.
“What this also means is if Yahaya Bello and his APC goons decide to attack me and the good people of Kogi Central in Ihima community, it will be impossible for the DPO to get across to this place.
“That means, I, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, my fellow candidates and supporters are trapped. We have no way out because Yahaya Bello has dug gullies,” she said.
Meanwhile, the state government has dismissed her allegation, describing it as blackmail.