Kogi monarch narrowly  escapes robbery attack, says SARS substitute not yet visible

 Emmanuel Adeyemi Lokoja

  A front line Kogi State monarch and the Ohi of Adavi, H.R.H, Alhaji Muhammad Ireyi Bello, recently escaped by the whiskers  an ambush laid by dare devil  armed robbers along Abuja- lokoja highway.
It was learnt that  the incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon at Magajiya village, near Banda  when he ranti into the ambush of armed robbers who were terrorising motorists along the highway
Speaking on his lucky escape, the Ohi of Adavi who was returning from the 3rd day firdau prayers held in Abuja for late .Suleiman Kokori, the deceased member of the Revenue Mobilisation and physical commission, said that he and other occupants of his S.U.V car were ambushed, as the car slowed down to pass through a bad portion of the road when some heavily armed men in black attire suddenly jumped from the bush into the road and were firing at his car from various directions
He said  it took the sheer courage of his driver to miraculously manoeuvre the car through the rain of bullets without any of the occupants sustaining injury but a minor damage to the car.
While thanking God for his narrow escape, the traditional ruler attributed the  recent upsurge in banditry and armed robbery attacks on the highways to the recent scrapping of S.A.R.S by the Federal government without providing a substitute, saying “you don’t scrap a whole system because of little defects, especially where there is no immediate substitute”.
The Ohi who believes the nation has been unfair to the Nigerian police by the wholesale condemnation of the institution, appealed to the Federal government to put a substitute in place as quickly as possible and also take steps to rebuild the self confidence of the force.
While commending governor Yahaya Bello’s proactiveness in tackling security issues, the Ohi attributed the recent cases of banditry operations in the state to the non sedentary nature of the bandits.
He then appealed to the governor to apply the method used In checking armed robbery operations on Okene-Lokoja highway to Lokoja-Abaji road.
He also called on the Federal government to complement the efforts of Kogi state government in tackling insecurity on the highways, stressing that whatever is invested in security is never a waste.